


Tell me a secret {t.r}

by roseandbirdy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blood Kink, Cruciatus Curse (Harry Potter), Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Heir of Slytherin, Parseltongue, Possessive Behavior, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:55:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandbirdy/pseuds/roseandbirdy
Summary: Two dangerous minds that both have dangerous secrets, in a room together, what could go possibly go wrong?Leila is thrown head first into deep seas of magic and mystery. Given the chance at a new life - she takes it with no hesitation - making new friends as well as enemies  and memories that she will never forget - no matter the burden it is to carry them."The more you love roses, the more you must bare with thorns."
Relationships: Tom Riddle | Voldemort/Original Female Character(s)





	1. I want to break free

And just like that she was free.

She sat on her trunk along a backroad that was about 2 miles from what was her now old family home. Taking in the breeze of what was the start of a late summers day, the September sky had just started to appear, still with some remanence of the August sunset that had just slipped away a few hours prior, casting a mixture of orange and yellow flames that seemed to dance around the silhouette of trees in the distance. The soft wind intertwined through her deep brunette curls, the warmth of it tickled her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe, as she exhaled she let out a small hushed chuckle, appreciating the peace and calmness she finally felt.

This is the moment she'd been waiting for and planning for months, this was the moment her new life began, if only there was a way she could get...

Am I really that desperate? She scoffed at herself as the ridiculous idea she just had retreated from her mind. She contemplated her other options, which where little to zero. She scoffed again while rising to her feet.

She stood for a moment trying to gather up the strength to actually go through with it, letting out a harsh sigh while forcing her wand hand out in front of her.

Yes, you really are this desperate, the voice in her head taunted.

An odd, inconsistent racket disrupted her thoughts. She snatched her head to where the noise seemed to be coming from and was met with the infamously known purple knight bus in the near distance. "What the fuck am I doing?" she said in an agitated whisper. Smoothing out her skirt, she crossed her arms and stood patiently as it took a path in her direction.

The bus haltered in front of her with an abrupt stop, it stood still for less than a second before a short, brown skinned man dressed in purple suit popped his head round the corner. He lifted a brow.

"Alright love, no time to waste! Dear me! Do be quick and get inside!" He greeted while hopping off the bus and standing a few feet in front of her.

He seemed to be holding a thick cockney accent. She hated cockney accents. Looking down she analysed him, he had a small scar in between his eyebrows, deep purple circles under his eyes and was very under-groomed as his hair fell short of his ears, he had patchy facial hair and what one would call a moustache, however faint it appeared. His top button was undone, no cuff links, and his old leather boots where on the brink of falling apart. Under his purple blazer was faintly patterned waist-coat, and his trousers pooled at his ankles, clearly he'd bought the wrong size. He must've been about 4"6 if she was being generous ,she felt as though she was towering him with almost a foot to spare.

Plastering on a smile and plainly forced out a good evening sir. She grabbed her case as she began to halter herself onto the bus. "I'll take that for you pumpkin, do hurry yourself we have got other stops to make!" He said in a broken sentence as he lifted her suitcase out of her grip, failing to hide the fact that he was struggling immensely. It was roughly the same size as him and probably weighed more. She couldn't help but hide her giggle as she stepped inside.

Honestly, it smelled like goblin piss and looked like it hadn't been touched by a drop of soap in about 50 years. Cringing internally she gripped onto a handle that hung from the ceiling, making her best effort to avoid the sleeping guests that trudged around on rolling beds behind her.

"Where we off to then love?" The little man said through harsh pants as he joined her. He was clearly out of breathe from the small lifting he'd just adhered to, she couldn't help but pity his partner.

"Hogsmeade would be lovely, thank you." She shot a small smile at the bus driver through the reflection off a small rustic, slightly cracked mirror. He bowed his head with a cheeky look in his eye as if to say hold onto your tits love or you'll go flying through that window to your left. He cracked the gear stick and before she even realised they where moving she was thrown forwards.

Considering the bus could move at an unbelievably fast pace, after a few drop offs' here and there they where finally on route to Hogsmeade. The small man continuously tried to start conversations throughout the journey , quickly retiring after the looks he was being thrown, she clearly wasn't in the mood to be bothered. Even though it was the start of September and summer was still lingering in the weather, as they developed their way through Scotland she couldn't help but feel the chill as they grew closer to the end location. This is when her reality hit her and she felt a sense of comfort, all of her hard work, sneaking around, the lying and the arguments all payed off, she was free and she was thriving.

"Hogsmeade for the lady!" The driver shouted. Again, they came to a sharp stop, but her annoyance for the driver melted away as she peered out of the window, taking in the sight before her.

She thanked the curious little man and the driver, before stepping into the small village. With a crack and a small cloud of dust the bus was out of sight. She placed her suitcase down and stood in complete awe of the cosy little town she was now in.

The brief description she'd been given of the area didn't do it justice. Every turn of her head she was met with a unique and intricate detail, weather it be a shop sign or an old bench that sat below a small blossom tree, she felt like she could spend hours here and still manage to miss something. The buildings where all different shapes and sizes, made from various materials and all seemed to have their own little twist to pull in shoppers. It seemed she'd been dropped in front of a post office of some sort. Trying to recall the directions' she'd been given, she turned right and began to wonder down the cobbled street, not hesitating to take her time, she didn't know when her next visit would be for her to do so.

Reaching a pub called the three broomsticks, she took a deep breathe as she quickly prepared for the moment she'd been longing after for so long. This was her fresh start, after months of owling she was finally about to meet him in person.

She was finally going to meet Dumbledore.

Looking down at her case she quickly realised it wasn't exactly appropriate to be lugging through a pub, so casting a quick reducio charm, she shoved the now small object into her coat pocket and forced herself through the door. She really hadn't the faintest idea what he looked like, nor had she given the time of day to imagine him. However, the man who resided in a almost hidden corner of the Inn seemed to be projecting a rather forced smile onto her, it didn't take a fool to guess that was probably him. He was definitely old, possibly in his late fifties give or take a few years. A trail of white hair sprouted sparsely throughout his auburn beard, twinkling eyes peered at her with a subtle warmth to them, he seemed to be dressed in a good quality suit in addition. The complete opposite of what she was expecting.

Ushering her to come to him he slowly got out of his chair and held out a hand to shake hers.

"Ah! Miss Aberdeen. Oh what a pleasure it is to finally meet you! How was the journey? Did you get here alright? I know Jeremiah the Porter can be quite the handful sometimes it's a wonder to me how his boyfriend can put up with..." She became overwhelmed quite quickly and his excessive waffling became a soft hum in the back of her mind.

"Miss Aberdeen are you alright?" The old man said softly while placing a hand on her shoulder as if he was about to shake her and say we haven't got all fucking day.

She shook out of her daze and greeted him with a smile.

"Im terribly sorry sir, the journey on that bus was quite insufferable, I'm afraid the speed we were travelling at may have given me a slight headache." It wasn't a complete lie, her experience of the knight bus was very..interesting to say the least. But she couldn't exactly say to him oh sorry sir I'm just a bit anxious at the fact that I've just pegged it out of my house at 4am with nothing but a suitcase full of clothes ,travelled hundreds of miles from home on a magical bus to a school where I'm about to start life with a completely new identity because I couldn't stand to live in that house any longer with 3 psychotic, abusive, bitchy pure-bloods! Yes that would certainly go down well, she did her best to give a more calmer explanation when they began writing to each-other all those months ago, though coming up with a new background story and identity wasn't easily done through letters.

"Now my dear we have much to discuss! Please sit, I took the liberty of ordering you a butter beer, it might help calm your nerves." He said with a small but detected chuckled undertone.

"Now where to begin. Ah, best start with your background story. I've been figuring this out for a few weeks now, forgive me if there's any holes or mistakes in the timeline and backstory I've concluded."He was trying his best to make sense and stay on topic but the look the teen across from him was giving him, he kept tripping up on his words due to a strange sense of nervousness that flushed him.

"Now where was I, yes, you are a transfer student after being homeschooled for by your parents. Your father was offered a job in Europe recently, they made the decision to enrol you here as they wouldn't be able to tutor you anymore, nor did they want to send you to any of the schools there, as they would be taught in different languages. They decided to have you come visit them during the holidays, so that you would be kept in contact. That will clear up any questions about family. Now, since you where born in the United Kingdom your name has been on the list as a student since your magical existence has been known, and still is to this day, hence you being able to start as a 6th year."

It all came out rather fast but she got the just of it. My parents are pretty much arseholes who decided to move my family around the world while I did my best to keep up with my schoolwork, they then sent me off to a school which isn't even in the same country as them and said see you at Christmas and the holidays! Let's hope you make it out with some decent grades! All rather fascinating she thought. Got it.

"Now miss Aberdeen, unfortunately your name is going to be quite detectable if they ever decide to check the school records or search for any trace of you here. That's going to have to change I'm afraid." He said in a stern but strangely assuring voice.

"Quite the exciting part I think. There's many to choose from. You could be Miss- Roberts? Blanchard? Silverstone? Harbor? Lanester?

Absolutely not. She shot an unimpressed look at him.

"Francis...Crosby...White-lock-" He continued with a weary look on his features. He was clearly starting to get impatient.

"What about Fernsby, sir?" She interrupted with a hopeful look simmering on her face.

He studied her for a second as a small smile tugged at his lips. "Miss Fernsby, I like that. It's unique, quite like you I suppose, very fitting indeed."

"And your first name? I know it's something quite precious to you, considering you've had it since birth, but it would be much too suspicious for a Charlotte to appear at Hogwarts just as a Charlotte disappears from the Aberdeen House."

In hindsight, he was aggravatingly right.

However, a new opportunity has just presented itself.

One door closes, another opens.

This was a how she was going to leave it all behind, by looking forward, looking into her future. Beginning a new life, with a new name.

That name though.. she wasn't quite sure. Was she ready to even give it up yet? Would she grow to hate her new one? Would she prefer her new one over her current one? How would she react to being called by it? Would she forget and slip up? Her head begun to swirl with every doubt possible, this is the mindset that was going to get her caught.

So, she simply pushed it down, down into the depths of her soul. Where she hid everything of her past. There were her parents, her brothers, her old bedroom, her life, her name? Her everything?

Relief is what began to fill her heart at this very moment. She couldn't hide her excitement as the smile on her face seemed to grow little by little every time she spoke more of the topic.

"Now with you actually being homeschooled for the majority of your life, by what I can recall you had two very skilled witches and wizards.." He couldn't help but see her slightly flinch at the mere mention of her parents. "Am I to assume that you are caught up with the same curriculum that was being taught at the school during these few years you've missed?" He wanted to tread lightly around the topic as it was clearly a sensitive one, and for good reason. From the few letters he'd received that explained her situation, he couldn't help but pity the poor teenage witch that sat in front of him.

"Yes , I'm completely caught up sir. My parents might've been bastards but they never let me miss out on a learning opportunity, wether it be school related or not." She didn't mean for it to come out so passive aggressive but she didn't mind as she was amused with the look he gave in return.

She sighed as a thought popped into her head, one she had completely forgot to ask about.

"What am I to do for money, I have plenty of it but since I'm no longer tied to my family any more, I'm basically poor except from the money I managed to pack with me. I don't think it will last me long." She felt terrible asking, he'd already given her so much, she really felt like she was just taking and taking from him. But she knew if she wanted this to work, she wasn't gonna make it far without being selfish. So she raised a brow to enhance the weight of her question while waiting for his response.

"Don't worry Miss Abe-Fernsby, sorry, I have all of that figured out. Should you need anything weather that be money, supplies or even advice, I would be more than happy to help."

"Now, the clock behind you says it's around 10 am, let's get some breakfast down you then we can start to head to the castle. The other students won't be here for another few hours so you can get sorted into your house and settled into your new dormitory! Ah how exciting! You are still yet to meet the headmaster, Mr Dippet, I'll bring you along to our meeting at 2:30 how does that sound?" The mans sentence faded as he got up to leave for the bar area, she assumed he was going to order their breakfast.

Nervous wasn't even the word. She'd heard stories about the school growing up from her oldest brother, Oliver. That was before he was taken out and started to be homeschooled. Neither her or her second older brother Louis got the chance to step into the famous school. Which broke her heart but didn't seem to bother him. He'd told her how new rooms weere always being discovered, that ghosts roamed the corridors and there was a ridiculous tree that often attacked people. He told her about quidditch, his first time flying a broom and the crazy extravagant feasts they held at the start of every year. Of course he didn't spare any details, he wanted to tease her as much as possible about the fact that she was never going to experience any of it.

She laughed, this is was basically a big fuck off to everyone in that hell bent family who went out of their way to remind her of all the things she was never going to have. Which was all of them. And now look at her, the look on their faces would be absolutely priceless.

Eating her way through some toast and eggs, only stopping to take a drink of her tea, she didn't realise how hungry she was until she took her first bite, she wondered how she ignored her stomachs call for food all of these hours, it was most likely overpowered by the knots in her stomach that kept reminding her that this was actually real.

Taking a break to let her food settle, she had an inquiry. "You said you'd take me to meet the headmaster, does he also know of my situation?" She hoped to Merlin he gave her the answer she was hoping for.

"Ah yes, this part of the story I had to be quite sneaky with. Since your identity is indeed fake and your name is not on the list, I had to do some tampering, Merlin forgive me." She tried to break the awkwardness that followed his confession by taking a small sip of her tea.

"Now Mr Dippet is quite the extraordinary man, he's very wise and is truly a great leader, however some aspects of his character are quite, well how do I put this, naive?" He raised a brow in amusement.

"He's very easily persuaded and very rarely questions things, especially if they're coming from me. He is as oblivious to your situation as the rest of the school are. They simply know you as a transfer student, telling him the truth would have been much to risky if anyone was to come looking for you, I don't doubt he'd chose his pride in being a nobleman and returning you to your family over facing the fact that our current situation is much more safer than you ever returning to that household." She had to admit, she was quite impressed how he figured this all out in the span of a few months.

"Have faith in me dear, if you keep a good composure, stick with the right crowd and don't get yourself into any trouble I will see to a very bright future for you in Hogwarts!"

She was proud of herself, weather that's considered vain or not she didn't care. Not even a week ago she was a defenceless 15 year old, who's voice was always over powered by that of her family. She hadn't a say in anything involving her pathetic excuse for a life, she was always being torn down, told she wasn't good enough, her opinion didn't matter. Simply voicing it would often end in a backhand to the face or being locked in her room for hours on end. Children are to be seen not heard is what her mother always said. That sentence rang in her ears until the day she snapped and had enough, she knew she had to do something, anything to escape that hell.

Now a week later, there she sat in a stray corner of an inn, with a strange old man, discussing how she was going to simply to blink out of existence. Almost as if she never existed. Which is exactly what she wanted.  
  


It was perfect.


	2. If you can’t beat them

Trailing behind the old wizard, she caught sight of the castle in the distance. It stood so tall and elegantly she would've believed it if someone told her it was a figure of her imagination, though not even her mind would be able to conjure up such a beautiful fortress with ease. Every step she took along the little broken path her heart pounded a little harder, she felt as though her rib cage was going to crack under the pressure. They passed a small hut, which seemed to be inhabited but she wasn't quite sure. It was pretty old and beaten down, she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to live in such a thing.

They made their way up the small hill that lead to the courtyard, or should she say hiked, she wasn't really dressed appropriately considering her small heels kept getting stuck in the mud of the grass. It seemed it had rained the night prior or she wouldn't be walking through such a mess of sludge. At the top of the hill she was greeted by a collection of towering stones that stood intimidatingly tall, the knot in her stomach twisted as she realised that intimidation was going to be a common feeling in this place.

After all it was huge, the towers towered and the walls of the structures seemed to loom over her as she entered through the archway and proceeded indoors.

Dumbledore obviously seemed to forget that she was new, and in fact didn't know her way around the maze of a school. At every corner he seemed to be getting a little faster, as they made it up the floors she could swear he was about to start a light jog until he finally stopped at an old, worn down statue that appeared to be some sort of gargoyle.

There was a new silence that was filled with a few questioning looks between them both, she had her eyebrow raised in uncertainty and he took no time to give an indication of why they where there.

"This is a very interesting statue sir, but why exactly have we stopped to look at it? Didn't you say you had a meeting to attend to?" She wanted to see more, there was so much to explore that she didn't want to waste time on such unimportant things.

"What has a golden head and a golden tail, but no body?" A small Riddle presented itself as an engraving on the used to be empty plaque of the statue. He read it out with a very amused look on his face, his eyes practically screaming that he wanted to tell her the answer.

She wasn't quite sure what to do in this peculiar situation, he hadn't told her why they'd stopped in front of the Gargoyle nor had she the faintest idea why it was throwing puzzles at the pair of them. It was a fairly easy question though, the answer was a coin. She just couldn't put together how the hell that had anything to do with gargoyles or statues but she simply shrugged it off as she realised this was probably going to be one of her more normal encounters of the day that laid ahead.

"It would be a coin. One side has a head and the other is a tail, but of course has no body." It came out in an airy chuckle, this situation had found a way to make her question what his deal was. She looked at him with an underlying doubtful expression and he returned it with a small wink as a reassurance that she was in fact correct. She was pulled away from her constantly ticking brain when the statue began to move, unwinding, revealing a staircase going upwards.

Her eyes lit up at the sight, until this day magic still had never failed to amaze her. It was always finding new ways to impress and make her question even the everyday objects that she would walk past.

Catching her shocked expression he began to climb the steep staircase but took a pause as he quietly voiced, "Nothing is ever really what it seems dear. And please, do keep close behind me, it's impressive yes, but it won't stay open for long." A wave of his hand gestured her to follow him. She was hesitant at first, but he sighed and yet again he ushered her to get moving, she began to climb it until she found herself in a decently sized office.

In the centre of the room was a decently sized desk, a pretty, velveted, red chair was tucked under it and two little wooden, less luxurious chairs sat in addition on the opposite side. Framed photos where hung along the walls of each side of the desk. Flashes of yellow,red,green and blue caught her vision as the students in them moved about, some dressed in sports gear, holding what appeared to be broomsticks and some in the simple school robes. Ranges of different plants from all over the wizarding world where scattered throughout some of the old bookshelves, the green and earth tones of them quite nicely complimenting the dark wooded floors and furniture.

The roof of the room had been charmed to show milky ways and all of the other beautiful wonders of space. It wasn't the standard looking office area, from the few she'd stepped foot in over the years, it had a unique charm to it that she couldn't quite put her finger on. However, the few personal touches she noticed scattered around made her smile as it was very clearly lived in and loved. From her first impression of the room it seemed it would be inhabited by quite a nice man. Which is exactly what she needed. Just a nice, old man who wouldn't ask to many questions or stick his nose in where it didn't belong.

Appearing out of what seemed like nowhere, a man stood, squinting at the two of them through his glasses with a curious expression. It didn't last long until he finally recognised the professor, and quickly manoeuvred over to greet the two of them and motioned for them to sit as he began to pour out three cups of tea.

They all took their seats. He cared for some small spectacles that sat perched on his nose bridge. He fashioned some deep, royal blue robes and a matching hat, white hair seeped through the blue fabric and sat comfortably at his neck. He had a high, delicate bone structure that complimented his fair skin, casting shadows around his face. He seemed to be slightly sunken in at the cheekbones, which she assumed was from old age. He looked awfully frail, as if he would shatter at any given moment from simply being touched to hard.

He honestly looked like he was on the verge of death. She hoped to Merlin that his looks didn't deceive him, the worried expression on her face grew and she tried to hide it by taking a sip of the herbal tea he'd given her. She hated herbal tea, which only enhanced the strange looks she was giving him, she now appeared to be anxious and disgusted.

Leaning in slightly over his desk, the old man began, "Professor Dumbledore! How nice to see you and oh! You seem to have brought a friend! Wonderful! Now he told me to expect a new student this year, although I didn't quite catch your name. What did you say it was again? I seem to have a terrible memory, my apologies."

It was silent for a few seconds. She consciously took another sip of her tea. The bitterness of the ginger made her gag slightly, but she disguised it by clearing her throat.

" I didn't." she replied.

Clearly trying to hide his confusion, he enhanced his smile but she could see right through it. He glanced between the young brunette in front of him and the Professor that sat beside her, searching for an answer. She didn't bother to say anything, seeing the old mans' confused face was quite amusing.

"Miss Fernsby is to start as a fifth year. Mr Dippet, I do hope you can recall the letters I sent to you last week explaining her unique situation. I think it would be best you read over them again in your spare time and save us the bother of going over it all again now." He finished his sentence in a tone to indicate there was no need for further discussion.

"Of course, of course. Well, in the meantime we can get you settled and we can discuss more of the topic another day." It was clear he wasn't one to argue or challenge anything Dumbledore said, it was quite interesting to see the way his opinions and actions were so easily influenced.

"How about we sort you into your house dear, that way you can settle into your new dorm before all of the other students arrive." Dippet got up from his seat and hurried over to a collection of shelves in the left corner of the room. Strange and intriguing objects where littered along them, but she caught sight of the brown witches hat that the man seemed to bereaching for. As he got his grip around it, she noticed a face was formed within the ruffles. It was quite a bizarre looking thing.

She'd remembered the day her brother owled in his first letter after arriving at the school. He'd been sorted into Ravenclaw and she recalled the attitude her parents gave when they read out the news. They clearly weren't pleased, not that their mood ever seemed to be anything else. Both of her parents where Slytherins', as were most of her descendants. Except from the few odd Ravenclaws' and one Hufflepuff distant cousin that they refrained from mentioning. Oliver gave a short guide of each houses quality's.

He described Gryffindors as brave and determined, known to always stand up for what they believed in.

Hufflepuffs were almost always underestimated, their undying loyalty seemed to make them appear weak, which only made their accomplishments all the more admirable.

When describing his own house, Ravenclaw, he told her how they were known for being bookworms, but were some of the most fantastically logical thinkers within the four houses. They could get out of any situation using their quick wit, which her brother definitely had the tendency of doing.

He then went on to tell her about the house of Slytherin, how their ambition drove them to seek glory and could make their way through any obstacle using the resources around them. But were also known for being overly determined and letting the drive for success get to their heads and in the way of important relationships. That seemed to be their downfall, especially for her parents, and often put an unnecessary prejudice on their house.

She honestly had no clue which one she would be put in, but she was both immensely anxious and remarkably exhilarated at the same time that she didn't care.

Dippet cautiously made his way over to her side of the room with the hat in his hands.

"Now, I'm going to place this on your head and it is going to sort you into either Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin or Hufflepuff. It also speaks so don't freak out to much when it begins it's decision process." He hovered it over her head before gently placing it to fit her. As soon as it touched her head it began to speculate.

Aha!...another Aberdeen, yes, I recognised that straight away. Maybe we can put you in the same house I placed you brother all of those years ago..hmm....wouldn't that be interesting...you definitely have the wit for it..you would make an excellent Ravencl....

Shit.

Can they hear you?

Of course not dearyy...this is all in your head..now don't worry. I'm not going to expose your little secret..I can see into your brain remember. I know what your up to. Now! Let's get on with it shall we! I have a job to do and I've got a feeling this ones going to take me a while..mhmm..

Thank Merlin.

Ah! There's so much courage...We wouldn't want to waste that now ayyy...but the smartness and loyalty is admirable you know...you'd do great in Hufflepuff.

It felt like it'd been in her head talking to her for hours already.

Hmm...this is a hard one..you've got the ambition of a Slytherin but the heart of a Lion!...What am I to do with you?!...I'm in the mind of Ravenclaw but Gryffindors nerve and leadership is calling out to me....this is a hard one...yes certainly.

How can it really be that difficult? I'm either smart and cunning, stupid and brave enough to be killed if it means someone else lives, too smart for my own good or simply loyal and kind!

I think your dragging it out a bit to the point where it's unnecessary don't you think?

Ah!..yes..this is it... I think we have one. Yes...best put you in....

Before she could even process the hats' answer it had been removed from her head and she was met with the curious expression they where both unknowingly projecting onto her. Dippet was slightly gaping as if he wanted to say something, but nothing was coming out. And the small smirk of Dumbledore along with the twinkling in his eyes. Both looked like they had just seen a ghost.

"My dear.." Dippet began but quickly cut short as he has to clear his throat.

"My dear, this is so very exciting! This is a very rare occasion! It only happens once in a blue moon, every 50 years at least! You should be honoured, it takes a very interesting and complex person to cause a hatstall!"

A hatstall. Oliver never mentioned one of those.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid I don't quite understand, would you care to elaborate?"She honestly had no idea what in Merlin he was so excited about.

"A hatstall occurs when the hat takes more than five minutes to sort a student, it very rarely happens. But in this case, Miss Fernsby, the hat took 8 and a half minutes to come to its final decision before placing you in Slytherin! It was a very extraordinary thing to witness. We sat in silence without a peep from either of you until it shouted it's answer. Whatever did it say?"

Professor Dippet was now sitting rather close to her. If it really was as rare as he said it was, she didn't blame him for being interested, she just regretted the attention that had suddenly been put on her. The complete opposite of what Dumbledore had advised her not to do. She was supposed to be keeping a low profile but sure enough, people where going to be curious about the new girl who appeared out of no where and stalled the hat for almost 10 minutes, fucking brilliant.

Quickly intervening, Dumbledore tried to shy away from the subject.

"Now that information stays between the hat and the student. Miss Fernsby is no different, no matter how rare or peculiar her experience was, it isn't our place to ask such personal questions." He'd began to direct Dippet back to his seat.

She made a mental note to thank him for this later.

"I'm certain that Professor Slughorn will be delighted to welcome you to Slytherin house, we will have your robes and what not prepared in your dormitory as soon as our meeting is over. In the meantime, I suggest for you to explore some of the castle before the other students arrive. Maybe try to find your way round a bit, this place is quite easy to get lost in. However, should you need any help, there will most likely be prefects doing rounds, they normally arrive a day prior to the rest of the school. I'm sure they would be happy to give you a tour should you ask them.

In fact, I'll walk you to the statue to make sure you find your way. Excuse me, Professor Dippet I won't be a minute." He bowed his head and proceeded back out the way they had entered, stopping only once they were no longer at any listening ears' radius.

"Now, should you need anything, come and find me, owl me, cast a patronus if need be, I will be happy to help as much as I can. But now that this is your life and you are in charge, try to make the right decisions, make the right friends and I wish you the best of luck in your new house. I have no doubt you will do exceedingly well, and it makes me happy to know I have helped make something good come out of a bad situation." He began to look at his watch, realising that the hour time slotof his meeting was ticking away.

Shaking his head he looked up, "I'm terribly sorry to cut this short but I really have to get bac.." Before he could finish his sentence, the girl had thrown her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. She squeezed him tight before releasing her grip slightly. Still keeping her head down she quietly spoke, "I cannot thank you enough, really, I don't know what I would've done without your help. Merlin knows I'd still be stuck in that house with..them. Thankyou. That's all I can say. I owe you my life and I mean it, anything I could ever repay you with it's yours. You've helped set me free and I will forever be grateful." By the end of her sentence a lump appeared in her throat making her voice break slightly, she genuinely thought she could cry. Tears had pooled in her waterline and she pulled away from him before wrapping her arms around herself.

She brushed away the stray tear that had escaped and forced a small but meaningful smile.

He returned the smile while placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I will see you in class tomorrow, Miss Fernsby." And with that he had disappeared back up the staircase.

Standing still for a moment and taking in the conversation they had just had, the girl turned to analyse her new surroundings. She began to wonder until she found herself roaming down an empty hallway.

She took a minute to appreciate the quiet and stillness of everything. How it all looked so in place, like it all belonged there, every canvas and painting, even the small cracks in the walls. And she, for the first time in her life, felt like she belonged somewhere too.


	3. The Invisible man

He didn't recognise her at all. She wasn't in school robes for him to identify her house, he had no implication as to who she was or where she'd come from. 

He took a minute to look, analyse this new girl and pick apart the mystery that sat just a few feet away from him.

She was a breathtakingly beautiful brunette - her hair effortlessly waved and sat just below her shoulders. It was pinned back with a pretty clip, though a few stray hairs had slipped from its grip and framed her face quite nicely. She presented a white cotton blouse, patterned with small, delicate, blue flower buds that buttoned up and ruffled slightly at the shoulders. Her skirt fell just above her knee, he raised an eyebrow at that, and was made with a clouded grey, expensive looking material. He noticed how it slightly cinched in at her waist, complementing her figure. She paired the outfit along with some grey ankle socks, no, one ankle sock. One of the pair seemed to be missing. How odd - he questioned. She wore a pair of small black heels, and draped an inky black, fitted woman's jacket over her arm. The other toyed with a white rose as she tried to pick it from the bush.

He had just finished doing rounds, only quick ones to make sure everything was prepared for when the students arrived in an hours time. The courtyard was always the last place he would check, though it would normally would be empty by this time. 

In 3rd year he'd discovered a small corner there, hidden in plain sight, leaves and branches from a tall, white rose bush had covered it pretty well. He was a reader, so took the liberty of making it his spot, a place he could escape to when he needed to refresh his mind and hide from all of the bad. 

His heart sunk a little bit when he noticed someone sitting there, no one else was meant to know about it. And admittedly, he wasn't one for sharing.

Her facial expressions were calm and soft, her eyes where practically glowing in admiration at the delightful little rose bud she had picked. Her eyebrows then furrowed and it all seemed to slip away in seconds when she noticed a small trickle of crimson coming from her finger. She quickly put the small wound to her mouth to get rid of any blood that had escaped; completely oblivious to the boy that was beginning to approach her.

Damn thorns.

"You should really be more careful when handling those, they're deadly in the hands of children." The boy leered.

Her head quickly directed to where the voice had come from. She was met with some messy, fiery, red locks that hid a pair of angelic, sapphire eyes beneath it. A boyish smile that charmed her and a set of perfectly straight, pearly teeth thats' grin mocked her cheekily. His eyebrow was raised, and he was leaned against the wall beside her with his legs and arms crossed and a magenta toned book tight in the grip of his left hand. His robes were green. Thank Merlin he was a Slytherin. She quietly sighed in relief. 

Subtly acknowledging him, she avowed, "Then it's a good thing I'm not a child, isn't it?" 

Quickly throwing away the flower, she looked away from him in an attempt to ignore him, but he'd persisted in joining her by taking up the remaining space of the bench to her left. It was quite a small one so they were now well in each other's personal space. 

"I don't remember you - and I never forget a face." He had leaned in and his dangerously pretty eyes burned into the side of her head until she turned to meet his gaze. 

"How could you possibly remember someone you've never met before?" Their eye contact started to blaze stronger, she could admit she was starting to feel slightly intimidated, but she wasn't going to back down. If this is what all Slytherins' were like she thought she'd better prepare herself. 

"Your new then." The boy concluded.

"Interesting. We don't get many of those." He'd pulled his gaze away, letting her smug smile slip over his head as she took the small win. 

"Is that new people or mysterious, dashingly beautiful Slytherin girls?" 

She'd also looked away in the opposite direction. She hoped he would match her energy and catch onto her joke instead of thinking she was a snobby, stuck up new girl who already thought she knew everything.

The last thing she wanted was a bad reputation before she even had the chance to introduce herself and make friends. Her heart skipped at the thought.

His small chuckle seemed genuine, she'd slightly caught him off guard. 

"Well, the only new people we get are first years, and you most certainly...don't look like one of those." He'd turned back to her, eyeing her body up and down as he divulged the sentence. 

He was clearly one of those types of boys. 

"Well spotted." She embarrassingly began to blush, repeating the action of turning her head away again. She wasn't exactly used to boys attention, not that kind of attention anyway. She was a bit lost on how to handle him so she cleared her throat in an attempt to show she wanted to move the conversation elsewhere. 

Thankfully he took note. 

"A mysterious, dashingly beautiful Slytherin girl you say? 

"Even when we do get the odd transfers they're sorted into every other house but ours, it's quite annoying actually." 

He started to run his fingers along the spine of his book as he spoke, occasionally meeting her deep, forest green eyes as he furthered into their conversation. 

Alfie could certainly get lost in those if he let his concentration slip for long enough. 

"Don't worry though, I think you'll be thriving in no time, they'll love you. And if your any similar to the rest of them you'll fit right in as if you were always there to begin with." He'd lightly shook her on the shoulder that was facing him and got up in an attempt to exit the awfully handled situation. 

What did he mean by them? She pondered.

She quickly rushed to her feet to follow after him, she didn't know where she was going, what he meant by them, or even what part of the castle she was in. He looked like the only person around in the moment that could help, so she trailed behind him until he noted her presence and caved, turning around to face her in annoyance. 

"Is there a problem, darling?" He clearly didn't want to talk to her, the sarcasm was practically dripping from him - which just reminded her of her brother, furthering her into annoyance too. 

"Yes actually. There is a problem, darling, and if it's not too much fucking trouble I'd appreciate it if you would help me with it." She really didn't have the energy to argue with him so she simply returned his sarcasm and awaited his response, crossing her arms expectantly in the process.

He didn't bother to speak he just simply gestured his right hand for her to carry on. It was this moment she'd noticed the faint, but present scar he possessed. It started from his pointing finger and trailed intricately down the back of his hand, then disappeared under the sleeve of his robe. She could only use her imagination to guess how far up his arm it went, or even if it had spread that far at all.

She then realised that he was still standing there, watching silently, waiting for her to lay the burden upon him. 

She sighed and began, "All of the directions I've been given to our common room have lead me to a wall. A blank, empty fucking wall. I don't know if it's a sort of inside joke or something but I'm really fucking tired of walking in circles. It's beginning to get quite frustrating." 

Her arms were still crossed and the look of defeat on her face amused him more than it should have. 

Now that he thought about it, the entrance to the common room could be considered an inside joke to any on looker. The concept sounded quite ridiculous but he took pleasure in knowing he was going to be the one to show her it. 

"Before I take you anywhere, do you have a name, Miss, mysterious, dashingly beautiful Slytherin girl?"

He took pleasure in teasing her, and liked the way she reacted to it just as much. 

She punched him gently in the arm as a response to his mocking. "Oh you are intolerable! And yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a name." She rolled her eyes.

No she didn't. Not yet. Shit.

She hadn't even had a chance to properly think about it. She quickly grew agitated with herself, wanting to hit herself for being such a procrastinator into forgetting to think of a new name. A name that she was going to have, forever? If this all somehow went as well as she was hoping, this was going to be how people addressed her for the rest of her life. 

Over the hour spare she had in the pub before her and dumbledore left for the castle, she thought about all of the books she used to read. How she admired all of the strong, beautiful and powerful woman in the stories she read. They would all have the most pretty, unique and thought about names. They all reflected their personalities, their goals, their dreams. The only problem was, she didn't have any of those. Not really.

She thought of all of the women who inspired her. A book she read a year or two ago came to mind. It was an auto-biography written by a suffragette named Leila Kingsley. Her story was heartbreaking, but all the more admirable when she realised that she wanted to be just like her. She wanted to be so passionate about something that she would die to see it come out on the better side of things. Wether it was love, leading her own movements or creating a new Ideology of seeing things. She couldn't help but think about how badly she wanted to prove to herself that she could show such passion. 

"I'm Leila Fernsby." She held out a hand for him to shake but instead he brought it up to his mouth and planted a chaste kiss upon it. 

That definitely caught her by surprise.

"Alfie Knight." He lowered her hand and let it slip from his soft grip. 

"It's been an...experience...to meet you, Leila Fernsby." 

"Follow me." He turned and begun to lead her towards the dungeons.

________________________________

They'd only been walking for a few minutes before they entered that same corridor she'd spent around half an hour trying to puzzle together. 

The few people she'd ran into on her way were more than happy to give her directions to the dungeons, but all seemed to refrain from mentioning how to actually get inside of them.

They both stopped at the same wall at the end of it the hallway. Alfie was smiling, his hands clasped behind his back, his right still gripping the book. Leila was still wearing her confusion, blatantly, across her face. 

"Now what? I know you didn't bring me here just to watch me stare at it hopelessly like an idiot again." Her undertone made it obvious she was unimpressed and clearly growing impatient.

His smirk doubled in size. "And how exactly do you know that, Fernsby?"

"Maybe that's exactly what I did." 

Of course he was messing with her, he just couldn't help himself. 

"You really are an arse." She imitated.

"Now can you hurry up and cut the anticipation. I do want to see the common room, preferably, sometime tonight you know. You make me wait any longer and I'll be caught up in all the other students' arrivals, which I'd rather didn't happen." She kept her gaze at the wall, but out of the corner of her eye she seen the red head slightly lift his head to face the ceiling with a soft sigh as he accepted her request. 

He took a small step forward and raised his hand to the stone wall in-front of them. With his pointing finger he traced an S twice, then a line down the middle of it before affirming,

"allaite une vipor dans votre sein" 

He took a step back into his original space. 

"French I'm assuming. What does it translate to?" She inquired.

"To nurse a Viper in ones bosom."

"It means to take care of someone, no matter how cruel or how badly they betrayed you. You can't help but look out for them." He sniggered as the sentence left his mouth.

"Bit fucking ironic don't you think? Considering how selfish the pricks are. Slytherins' don't exactly have the reputation of forgiving and forgetting. If you do them wrong they're gonna remember that in the battlefield, and not hesitate to return the favour." 

He was still avoiding her gaze that she had been imprinting on to him for a while now. If he was being honest, he was beginning to worry for her. Beside the fact that he'd not even known her for an hour yet, he could already feel himself being drawn to her.

Where to begin troubled him. 

She was insanely beautiful and charming. Her aura invaded him, almost making him tremble with its power. Those eyes. Those fucking eyes. He couldn't get them out of his head. How they glowed in perfection whenever the sun touched them. She was like light. And he knew that as soon as she walked through that damn wall. That those people, them, were going to put her out.

Which he'd then consciously promised himself he wasn't going to let happen. 

"So, are we just going to stand here all fucking day or are you going to show me how you get in?" She was definitely pushed over the edge now. He'd sort of been in a daze for a few minutes, his eyes were busy and his mind was clearly deep in thought. He also kept narrowing his eyes every few seconds, quite an odd thing to observe. She didn't want to interrupt him by any means, however, she'd been standing there patiently for at least 15 minutes in silence, and couldn' take it any longer.

He snapped out of his trance, and quickly grabbed her by the wrist as he lead her through the wall, not giving her anytime to properly react to the strange act. 

They now stood, looking down at the common room.

Her eyes quickly lit up at the sight.


	4. Dragon Attack

Leila stared in awe.

A murky green engulfed the area, water reflections rippled and dazzled. The light from the lake seeped and glowed, making everything in the room radiate with wonder and brilliance. The green tones reflected her own eyes, it was as if she was staring into her very own soul. Air had escaped her while her heart thumped and skipped. There was so much to take in, almost too much, every object caught her eye, every object was something unique and daring her to touch them.

The cold black leather of the sofas' was pristine, complimented by dark wooden floors and draped emerald curtains and tapestries. Silver lined the walls and made accents, the earth element heavily influenced the room, as if the goddess Isis had inhabited the place herself. Everything almost felt forbidden to touch, and if she ever dared it would all shatter and slip away. Too good to be true. She'd wake up from this dream and find herself back in her old bed. Back in her old life.

But that simply was not the case.

She could touch things. She could appreciate the small details. She could grab as many books from the shelves as she pleased with no one to apologise to for it. She was in control.

She still stood at the wall. Hesitating. Waiting for something to go wrong. Waiting for reality to crash back down on her and someone wake her to tell her none of it was real. She was scared.

She lifted her arms as if she was hugging herself, giving her mind a moment to process it all. Small steps, be cautious, be careful. Her body moved slowly, while her eyes couldn't stop skipping and analysing. There was so much to see, so much to look at and she didn't want to miss any of it. She thought that if she blinked too suddenly that it would all disappear.

Alfie's soft voice intruded her overthinking,

"Quite the sight isn't it? I remember the first time I ever set foot in here myself, I think I was just as mesmerised as you."

"As naive little 11 year old I thought it couldn't get any better, but of course at that point I hadn't even been shown the whole castle yet. That's when I truly appreciated being a student here, there's always something more, something bigger and better just waiting for you to find it."

She didn't reply straight away. She was too lost for words to even think about answering him.

"Right well I have to go, the other students are going to be arriving shortly and Slughorn will have my neck if I'm late." He felt like an idiot, he'd been standing talking to himself for several minutes without even an indication from her to say wether she was listening or not. All he could do was keep breaking the silence, which he was failing miserably at doing.

"Oh and, did Dippet happen to mention who's dorm you've been assigned to? The girls ones are down those steps and to the left, I'd help you find it but there's wards in place to stop the opposite sex from entering. Quite a ridiculous caution if you ask me. But if you tell me a name I can tell you which door." He paired the sentence yet again with the small smirk she'd quickly grown familiar with.

This time she replied quickly, she was eager to see where she was going to be living for the next few years of her new life. She felt like a small child, exhilarated and bubbly to start new adventures. But she kept a cool composure, she didn't want to show him that.

"Black, I remember him saying. Aurora Black I think her name was." Her tone was cool and unfazed.

"Ah I know Black, and it's Aurellie Black, by the way. Dorm 12, the one furthest down of the corridor."

"You might want to make sure you get her name right if your gonna be sharing a room together, she gets awfully snappy when people say it wrong. I'd know, I call her everything but that just to piss her off. She's cute when she's angry but there's a thin line between cute and scary, which she likes to cross more times than other."

He was clearly familiar with her, maybe they were dating? She thought, then made herself answer him, she hadn't spoken a word to him since they stepped through the wall.

"Is there anything else I should know about the girls in my dorm? It would be helpful to know if I should sleep with a knife under my pillow, you know, just in case."

Alfie couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. He nervously ran a hand through his locks.

"From what I can remember I'm pretty sure it's Aurellie, Olive Hornby..and..Catherine Galesby? Catherine's sweet and she's friendly, so nothing life threatening from her. Olives' a possibility. She's like the smaller, less feisty, more bitchy version of Black, they shadow each-other without realising most of the time." He then realised he'd been talking nonsense for minutes on end and wasting time he didn't have and made his way for the wall again.

"Anyways, I'm sorry to just leave you here like this, but I really have to go. The Hogwarts express would've just got to the station. The Professor is a right annoying git sometimes, he'll scold me if I'm even a minute late, the bloody wanker obsesses over punctuality. It was nice meeting you though and I'm sure I'll see you at the feast later on." Within a blink he'd vanished back through the wall.

Seconds later, Leila still stood in the same spot, not sure what to do with herself when his head popped through the wall again. "Dorm 12! Don't forget it Fernsby!" And quickly disappeared again.

She was plunged into silence at that moment. The common room was eerie but intriguing nonetheless.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, she quickly hurried over to the magnificent book case that kept catching her eye. It sat towards the left of the room, towering over her and everything in sight. It was a deep inky colour, laced with silver details and filled to the brim with books, all squashed to fit, though all seeming to have a place. There were various genres that ranged from the more lighter subjects such as magical beasts and astronomy, to the more darker topics such as guides to the best curses and jinxes. She was dumbfounded and elated, how she loved reading, the library being the one place in the castle she was most excited to see. A book was always a safe place she could escape to, the words drowned out her thoughts and made her mind spin with imagination. If not living a desirable life, she could always pick a book and escape to someone else'.

A certain book that was placed on the top shelf, almost hidden, suddenly caught her attention. It was a deep navy colour, tattered and worn, it's gold engraved writing barely visible from it's owners' obvious lack of care. She used a quick accio charm on it, letting it fly into her grasp before studying the mysterious book.

'The life and death of Salazar Slytherin'

This ought to be interesting she thought, then proceeded to pocket the book before turning towards the rest of the room. She payed it one final glance, then proceeded towards the dormitories.

Heading down the corridor, she cautiously approached the wooden door with the number 12 hung on it in silver lettering. She hesitated before grabbing the handle, then shocked when it simply turned and opened, revealing her new room.

She stood in the door way, not moving a muscle, her eyes quickly betraying her by flickering and analysing her new surroundings. Four beds where the first thing she took in, two either side of the room against the walls, all canopys' with deep, emerald silk fabrics hanging from them. Silver also making its odd appearance. Again, there were dark wooden floors, and deep, grey painted walls. It was luxurious by all means, every inch of the room could be worth hundreds. The interior matching the theme, black wooden furniture and velvet, quilted arm chairs behind each of the desks'. The three areas of the room, each belonging to a student, were personalised and decorated to fit whomever inhabited the area. All except the far right corner of the room, where the desk was empty and looked longing to be appreciated and touched. She swiftly shut the door behind her and practically skipped to her bed. The sheets were blanketed with simple silk, and her uniform and other necessities sat proudly on top of it. A bag of galleons also sat next to her Slytherin scarf. Dumbledore. She made a mental note to thank him later for those.

Leila then took her shrunken baggage from her pocket, charming it back to it's original size and begun un-packing.

The desk was far dustier than she was expecting, the chair tucked under it was also on the verge on breaking. She transfigured the chair into a more comfortable and pleasant arm chair, similar to the other three in the room, then took her wand and begun cleaning the desk and it's draws.

When packing for her eventual escape, Leila remembered only what would be deemed necessary, clothes, books, shoes, the few makeup and hair products she used and her wand. What else could she possibly need?

A lot more it seems. Now that she'd sorted her clothes and what not into their new draws, she then realised that she had nothing else. Nothing personal, nothing comforting or homely, nothing that spoke Leila Aberdeen. Which was the point of course, yet she couldn't help but feel that her corner of the room looked as empty as it seemed when she first step foot in the room. A new life, a new start, why not new belongings? She was so caught up in her thinking, and the solemn silence of the room, that she jumped at the sound of the door being opened.

She froze, but kept her posture firm in hopes of giving a first good impression. The girl that had opened the door payed no attention to Leila, though she was sure she hadn't even noticed her yet since she was pre-occupied with the luggage she was dragging in with behind her.

"Those bloody elves exist for a reason! Why the hell hasn't anyone here used their common sense and made them take our luggage to our rooms for us?! It's a joke!"

-The sharp but feminine voice that exclaimed the words came from a pretty blond with slightly tanned skin, who was now standing with her hands on her hips, her chest rising and falling in an attempt to calm her breathing. She possessed some delicate light blue eyes, and what seemed like a permanent scowl across her lovely features. Her luscious golden locks were tied up into a pony tail, and she wore a deep green summer dress. How predictable for a Slytherin. Leila wondered which of the girls this was, though coming to a quick elimination she realised it was either Hornby or Black by her facial expressions. Given the brief description of Alfie, Cat wouldn't be caught with such a look.

The girl who followed shortly behind was dressed head to toe in black. A clearly expensive robe and some heels, along with yet again, another scowled expression. Her entrancing black curls wildly framed her face, ending just above her elbows. Her eyes were a piercing black and intimidating, her facial features all being pale, sharp and smooth, as though she was a painting and not a real human-being. "I've been saying this for years Olive! The creatures are utterly useless, foul and annoying if anything. I don't see why the school keeps them. My father thinks we should just make the Mudbloods' do the washing up, at least then they'd be doing something useful with their pathetic existence instead of trying to become something as noble as a witch or wizard with their dirty blood! It's almost offensive the way the try to fit in, how dare they! I can't-"

Aurellie Black, who Leila is quick to identify, is then cut off by the next female who enters the room.

"Now is not the time for a rant on blood purity Aurellie! We have 15 minutes to get changed and be in the Great Hall. I'm sure our new dorm mate would love to hear about your opinions of muggle-borns, however your yet to even introduce yourself, so I suggest you get that out of the way before you scare her off."

This time the owner of the voice is matched with a warm smile. The girl was absolutely beautiful to say the least, no different from the other girls of course, but their lack of personality and obvious negative attitudes seemed to make them slightly less attractive. Her skin was like gold, a light shade of brown but nonetheless glowed and radiated beauty. Hazel eyes like honey, deep brown curly hair and a kind smile to tie her together. This must be Cat.

Confirming her suspicions, neither Olive nor Aurellie had noticed Leila until Cat made her presence obvious. All eyes in the room were on her and her posture had slightly fallen due to the intensity of the Blond and Black haired girls' gazes. They were eyeing her, taking in everything, as though they were looking for a flaw to point out or make fun of. Leila wasn't sure why she got this sudden judgment of the girls, but she knew the feeling in her back of her mind and was often a good judge of character. She just hoped she was wrong.

Cat being already kind and welcoming, dropped her luggage and made her way over to where Leila was still standing, unexpectedly throwing her arms around her, and pulling her into a gentle hug.

When she pulled back from her embrace, cat smiled and begun, "I'm Catherine Galesby, but you can call me Cat." She then turned slightly to face the two girls on the other side of the room, "The blonde girl there is Olive Hornby and the other is Aurellie Black, I'm not sure what you should call them as I'm sure they'll find whatever you decide offensive as they do with everyone, maybe just stick with last names for now." She said with a re-assuring smile and a subtle wink.

"I'm Leila Fernsby. But I guess you can all call me Leila."

"I've just transferred here from being homeschooled so It's quite strange to be in a school environment, let alone living in one. I'm excited though, this place, it's beautiful." Everything she'd just said was the truth. Of course she knew what to expect to some extent, she wasn't daft, yet she clearly underestimated the idea that she will now be attending and living in a school full of students who all have their own personalities and beliefs and prejudices'.

Their own backgrounds and families and dreams and desires. It was certainly a breathe of fresh air from her previous life, but also a scary one if she thought about it too much. Which she tried her hardest not to do.

Neither Aurellie or Olive spoke, they simply nodded at her introduction and turned to get ready.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Leila, we can talk more over dinner, which we're now going to be late for! Merlin! Hurry up and get changed we have 5 minutes!" She decided she loved her new name more than she was expecting, the sound of it being called, knowing they were referring to her was... refreshing... She retreated to her bed and quickly begun undressing and redressing into her robes, Leila doing the same, ignoring the awkwardness and sudden anxiety she felt at having to change in front of 3 new strangers. Wether they were friendly or not, realising this was something she'd have to get used to eventually, she hurried until she was fully dressed in her uniform and new slytherin robes.

Left with only a minute or two spare, she spent them admiring her new reflection, only before being practically dragged out of the door by Cat. They then hurried to catch up with the impatient Olive and Aurellie who didn't think twice about leaving without the other two.

Making sure there was a fair distance between Cat and herself and Olive and Aurellie who were a few feet ahead, she linked arms with Cat, "Are those two always so bitchy? I feel bad for you if you've had to deal with their moods for so many years."

Cat giggled and lowered her voice so she wouldn't be heard- "Sadly yes, and this may come as a shock to you, but neither of them are currently in a mood, this is them relaxed and in a 'good mood' if you could even call it that." She rolled her eyes dramatically and giggled again, then unlinked their arms as they came to the entrance of the great hall.


	5. Spread your wings

The great hall was bellowing with laughter and life.

It was truly a sight to behold, beautiful didn't do this place justice. The roof of the hall had been enchanted to look like the magnificent night sky; galaxy's and stars, milky ways, comets and the moon in all its glory, spread far across the ceiling. It could be mistaken as a painting, if not for the meteors and shooting stars that danced across it. Tones of midnight blue, fuchsia and silver, tiny planets looked likespecks of diamonds and glitter, all reflecting with the light from the candles that floated a few feet below it, making the room glow in euphoria.

Four long tables were horizontally spaced out in the hall, all in line with each-other, and a long table at the back that sat- which she assumed- were all of the professors. 

From the left she could see an array of students in robes with red and gold- Gryffindor -all elated and excited to start a new term in their school year. The next table sat students with the house colours yellow and black- Hufflepuff - equally, if not more cheery than the last lot. Smiles spread wide across their faces, they all seemed to be chatting and giggling with one another, in high spirits. A wave of blue, almost like the ocean hit her senses- Ravenclaw. Girls gossiping about boys, the boys gossiping right back, friends catching up after their months spent apart, and not one face was scowled.

On the far right sat Slytherin. It was easy to tell by the green robes, and the atmosphere not being nearly as giddy or in each other's' faces as the rest of the rooms was. Yet, they all seemed content, but still happy to see each other, and curious to what their friends spent the last few months doing.

Cat had her by the wrist, dragging her down the isle that separated Ravenclaw and Slytherin. She seemed to be heading for the far end of the table, which was inhabited by a group of boys, Olive and Aurellie. The group seemed to be deep in conversation, laughing amongst themselves, soaking in the company they had been evidently yearning for.

When they finally approached the table, Cat- not so gently- sat her down, taking a seat to her left. Before Leila could give her a pointed glare for her roughness, Cat jumped into a conversation with Olive, talking about doing God knows what with God knows who.

She sat without an idea of what to do. She didn't know Aurellie enough to start a casual conversation, not that her blatant rudeness and evident dislike for her helped at all. She was sitting twirling her hair between her fingers, smirking and ogling her eyes at one of the boys that sat on her side, a few bodies down.

The boy to Leila's right was facing away, in a deep conversation with someone else, though she could hear his light laughing, it was charming and heart-warming, and the boy who was talking back, she felt her body tingle at the sound of his chuckling. Sitting opposite them, was a boy with the whitest hair she had ever laid eyes on. It was as white as snow, it looked as soft as it too. It was cut finely, his fringe sat comfortably over the top of his eyebrows, taking her eyes further down his face. He was handsome, his smile gave her butterflies instantly, she knew he could break your heart with just one look.

She didn't get a chance to take in the rest of the group, Cat had finished her conversation and was linking her arm into Leila's' again. She drew her smile to her ear giggling once again.

"Oh Leila, don't think I missed you checking out all of the boys. I'll introduce you to them all officially soon, the sorting ceremony is going to start any minute, and that you don't want to miss."

Leila payed no attention to her friends playful taunting.

She has never seen a better looking group of boys in her 16 years of living.

Her continuous staring was clearly becoming obvious as the boy with the white hair, tuned to meet her stare.

She blushed and quickly avoided his stormy eyes.

"Cat, would you care to introduce us to your pretty little friend over there? Or were you just gonna keep her all to yourself?" The boys voice was gentle with a rough, almost undetectable charm to it. He kept his eyes on Cat, but she couldn't help but feel like the small smirk he possessed was for her.

"I was getting to that! Merlin have patience Malfoy! I thought I would wait to introduce her after the sorting ceremony, seeing as it's going to be begin any min-"

Her voice, as well as the rest of the great halls chatting, was cut off by the bellowing voice of who she recognised to be Headmaster Dippets'.

"Good evening everyone! I am honoured to welcome you all back, students and staff, to a brand new year here at Hogwarts. I hope you all had the most delightful summers, but now it is time to get your heads down and working! I know you won't disappoint me." He said with a grin.

"Now, before we begin there are a few, start of term notices I wish to discuss. Not that I should have to remind you, but please note that the forest is forbidden to all students- and strictly out of bounds unless you want to die the most painful of deaths."

"Last but not least, I would like to welcome a new student to our school, she's a sixth year and has been sorted into Slytherin house! Miss Fernsby would you please stand!"

She felt her heart drop to her stomach and froze.

Oh my fucking god what is he doing.

She felt Cat tug on her arm as if she was trying to pull her up. She turned to look at her with a look that was almost begging her not to, but Cat giggled as she tried to pull her to her feet again.

"No! Cat stop it! No, no, no this is so embarrassing please don't!"She whispered to her friend but she wasn't listening.

Cat stood with her arm linked into Leila's again. If she could look into a mirror right now, she knew just how red and flustered she would've looked.

She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. This is what dying of embarrassment felt like.

She pulled cat close and spoke in a hush so that only she could hear her.

"I hope you sleep with your wand close Catherine Galesby because I am going to curse you in your sleep tonight!" She said through gritted teeth.

Cat simply laughed in amusement, and unlinked her arm so that she could take her seat again - Leaving Leila standing there on her own, with hundreds of stares burning into the back of her head.

Take a deep breathe, don't slouch, look confident and smile she told herself.

Her gaze on Cat moved to the rest of the room then back onto the Slytherin table.

Every. Single. Pair. Of. Eyes. Were on her in that very moment. She genuinely felt like her heart was going to burst from anxiety and humiliation.

She then caught eyes with Alfie again, he was smiling into his hand, thriving in amusement at her awkwardness.

Dippet then spoke again after what felt like an eternity, rather than a few seconds.

"I want you all to welcome her with open arms, kindness and treat her no different from anyone else you know. Especially the sixth year Slytherins', she's apart of your house now I will expect no less than a warm welcome. Do not disappoint me."

His speech ended with the sound of the footsteps. A group of first years entered the room, nervous and scared, much like herself.

The poor children that stood by the door looked like they were going to either faint, throw up, or cry.

One small child let out a whimper.

While everyone's eyes moved from her to them, she took that as the opportunity to take her seat again as quickly as possible, trying to draw as little unnecessary attention to herself as possible.

Everyone was now staring towards the group of 11 year olds', lead by a tall Hufflepuff who wore a head-boy badge. The group of first year students scurried behind him, their eyes filled with terror as every persons attention in the room followed them.

They stopped a few feet away from the long table that sat the professors, huddled together like nervous little penguins.

An old woman with red hair, tied back into a low bun, approached a stool that sat in front of the hall so everyone had a decent view of it. The sorting hat was placed atop, she recognised it as the one she used just a few hours earlier.

The woman held a scroll in her hands and stood proudly in-front of the school. A kind smile was on her lips as she began her small speech.

"Now when I call your name, you shall come forth, I will place the sorting hat on top of your head and you will be sorted into your houses." Her voice was gentle and welcoming, much like a grandmothers.

"Tallulah Thompson!"

A timid girl with deep skin walked forth, she held her shoulders back and her chin up. She confidently approached and sat on the stool, the old woman then went to place the hat on her head. Before she could even set it down the hat yelled...

"Gryffindor!"

A smile lit up the young girls face, she radiated positivity and happiness as she stood up and practically skipped towards her new houses table. The whole room cheered, but not as much as the red house, who were whistling and banging their table for their newest member.

Another three students were then sorted, two into Ravenclaw and one into Hufflepuff.

"Arabella Avery!"

It was then, another one of the boys spoke up.

"Go on Bella! Do your big brother proud!"

A boy with dirty blond hair was smiling with the widest grin and hopeful eyes as he cheered on his little sister.

The rest of the group seemed to pay extra attention as the little blond walked up to the stool, waiting to be sorted.

Even the raven haired boy who had his head in a book throughout the ceremony lifted his head to pay attention.

The girl looked awfully nervous, her eyes were flickering between her brother and the rest of the room. Her hands played with the seam of her skirt as the hat was placed on to her head.

It was silent for a minute or two, she could see the wide grin on Avery' face fade slightly as the hope for his little sister to be sorted into his house became more unlikely by the second.

"Hufflepuff!"

The look on Avery's face made Leila want to burst out laughing. He looked like was genuinely lost for words as they tried to form, but instead her kept opening and closing his mouth.

The girl shot a nervous glance to her brother, looking genuinely sorry, as she shook her head at him and slowly approached the Hufflepuff table.

Whatever Avery was intending to say would've been drowned out by the cheering that erupted from her new table.

The rest of the group was staring at him, waiting for him to talk but he avoided every single one of their eyes as he clenched his jaw and put his head in his hands. She heard him start mumbling obscenities to himself. The entire table then turned their attention towards him.

Jacob Averys little sister was just sorted into Hufflepuff. He was never going to live this down.

"Fucking hell mate. Good luck to her, I'd shit myself having to explain that to my parents." The boy sitting next to her added.

"Yes, thank you Ambrose for the input." He said sarcastically into his hands again.

Another 3 students were sorted, yet none had been put in Slytherin. The table were still awaiting a student to join them, they were all growing restless and annoyed.

"Bonnie Clarence!"

A girl with hair as black as night stepped forward and sat down. She hid a small smile that kept twitching at the corners of her mouth, and as the hat was placed onto her thick black curls, she let it slip, forming a small curve of her lips between a set of dimples.

"Slytherin!"

It was at this moment she realised the house pride shared among the students she was sat with.

The whole table got to their feet and were clapping, banging the table, whistling and lots of shouting. Clearly they were trying to out-scream the other houses.

The grin that stretched across her face was heart warming as she ran to the table. She sat next to Cat who was quick to welcome her, just the same as she did with Leila. She really was a sweetheart, just like Alfie had said.

Her eyes begun to scan the table looking for him.

His auburn locks caught her eye quick enough, they're eyes met as he sat back down after cheering. He gave her a small, reassuring smile and turned into a conversation with the boy next to him.

Her attention faltered back to the group she was sat with as they all calmed down and took their seats.

Around half an hour had passed until the very last student was sorted into Ravenclaw. Slytherin had gained around 23 new students, every time it was announced the table would erupt into cheers, no more than the last time they did it.

———————————————————

Mountains of food appeared. Every culture, like and need was catered to. The different colours and scents infiltrated her senses making her even more hungry than she had been the previous morning.

She began to plate up her dinner, not being to generous, nor to humble either. Whilst scooping some some peas onto her plate, a female voice spoke to her.

"So Fernsby, how did it feel to be in the spotlight and have your 5 seconds of fame?

I bet you loved all those eyes on you, didn't you? I could've seen your blush from a mile away." Aurellie mocked with a fake smile.

She took a deep breathe and swallowed her annoyance. "Of course I did. I just love being the centre of attention and having every pair of eyes in the room burning into me. That may make me a narcissist, but at least then we'd have something in common." She bit back sarcastically.

A few chuckles sounded within the group, but quickly faltered when she glared at them all.

Her eyes narrowed at Leila. She clearly wasn't used to being spoken to in a such a way. What made it all the more amusing was that she had barely spoken a word to her until now and she was already under her skin.

"Listen to me Fernsby. You don't want to go making enemies on your first day here- especially with me. I can guarantee that-"

"Oh shut it black, she's a feisty one get over it. Your just mad because you know you won't be able to recruit her to be one of your little mean girls." The voice from Leilas right spoke. It was deep, but friendly, he had the same undertone of humour and lightness that Cat seemed to carry, and on top of all that he was bloody gorgeous.

He held out his hand for her to shake and she took it happily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you darling. I'm Ambrose Nott."

"The pleasure is all mine, I'm Leila Fernsby."

His hand retreated from hers and he threw his left arm around her shoulders and into a quick, friendly half-embrace.

"Well then Leila. Let me introduce you to my brothers."

He turned her, still in his arms to face the boy sitting next to him.

"This man here to my right is Morpheus Lestrange."

The boy turned when he heard his name, flashing her a smile and his hand. He had deep brown hair, much like her own that complimented his jaw and cheekbones. He had really nice cheekbones.

"Pleasure to meet you, love." He said, while shaking her hand that was a lot smaller than his.

"And this one here-" He put an arm infront of Lestrange to move him out of the way, earning a huff, so she could get a clear view of the bronze locks that covered the boys half exposed face.

He picked up a small carrot from the bowl in front of him and threw it at a boy who sat next to Lestrange.

"What you twat, I'm trying to eat!" He turned and grunted with a scowl, then relaxed his face when he seen Leila under Notts arm.

"That idiot there is Sage Mulciber, friendly as always." Nott joked.

"It nice to meet you too." She said trying to hide a grin.

He opened his mouth to speak but resorted to a nod instead.

He then turned her attention to across the table, nodding towards a boy with a smile that could make your knees go weak.

He picked up another carrot and threw it at him. This time the the boy turned with a confused look on his face as he picked up the peice of food that'd hit him. He realised where it had come from by the smug look on Notts face and threw it back at him.

"Your such a child Nott." He shook his head, his smile still lingering.

"That's not what your mum was saying last night, quite the opposite actually." Nott bantered back.

"Your a disgusting prick." He said shaking his head.

"Oh come on! Don't go all sour on me and Leila here. Besides, I think she prefers your face with a smile. Isn't that right Leila?" He said with a wink.

Caught of guard by his sneaky comment, she opened up her mouth in defence but was then cut off when the boy spoke.

"My names Julian Rosier. It's nice to meet you Fernsby." He flashed her his smile again while taking a drink from his goblet. She felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"Please, call me Leila."

Before she could even think about how good-looking he was, Nott turned her body and nodded towards a boy that was sitting reading, not engaged in any of the current conversations.

He had soft, midnight black waves that covered his forehead and swept over his eyes, contrary to to the angle his head was at while reading. His jaw was clenched and his cheekbones defined by the shadows that the candle-light in the room cast upon his face.

Nott had another carrot in his hands ready to throw, but hesitated before putting it back into the bowl.

He cleared his throat. "Riddle."

"What is it, Nott?" He answered in a sultry, deep voice, not letting his gaze leave the book in his hands.

Ambrose didn't know what to do to get him to engage properly in the conversation, so he just turned back to Leila, "Uh.. that's Tom Riddle. Charming chap really, but I suppose he's busy at the moment. You two can catch up later." He tried to give her a reassuring nod but at the sound of his suggestion, Riddles gaze finally left his book and he met her eyes.

Green met green. Hers were forest green, like the mountains that surrounded the castle. His were viper green, almost black and were darkening as the seconds ticked away. They were entrancing, hypnotising and intimidating. Hers were bright, mesmerising and looked like emeralds. She was the first to break the trance-like-contact and her eyelashes fluttered as she came back to her senses and looked anywhere but him.

The most subtle smirk lingered at his mouth.

His head dropped back to the book he was reading, his grip tightening slightly and his face going back to stone. The darkness of his eyes faltered as he became more engaged with whatever he was reading about. He looked hungry for knowledge, and by the look on his face, that book was feeding him it on a silver platter.

"And I thought Black was rude." She whispered into Notts ear, he laughed but then quickly stopped when Riddle raised an eyebrow as an indication that he, in fact, heard her comment.

Nott gulped, then turned her to face the last boy, the one with the white hair from earlier.

His mischievous smile appeared again.

"Oi Malfoy! Introduce yourself to the lady."

The boy with a stormy eyes turned his head to face her, he gave her a quick glance that was, unsure and calculating, then caved into a friendly smile.

He held out a hand for her, which she took, and quickly brought it to his mouth and placed a small kiss on the back of it.

"Nice to meet you love. I'm Abraxas Malfoy."

His touch still held her hand, which he then dropped as he started to get to know her.

"So, tell us about yourself, who is Leila Fernsby?" He tilted his head and took another bite of his food.

Who was Leila Fernsby?

She was, but she wasn't.

She would have to be careful, vague, but not to secretive that she would appear suspicious.

A few boys seemed interested in what she had to say, Nott, Rosier, Abraxas and Avery seemed to be listening in, curious about the new girl.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

A few of the boys shared quick glances and smirks.

"What's your favourite food?" Nott asked.

The boys scoffed.

"You know nothing about me, yet you get the chance to ask me anything and you choose to ask me my favourite food?" She questioned playfully.

"Fine, I was just trying to diffuse the tension but I guess we're going straight in-"

"How come you've only just started Hogwarts now, why not first year like the rest of us?"

Think about what Dumbledore said.

"Well, up until recently I was homeschooled. About two months ago my father was offered a job in Europe, which he accepted, meaning he couldn't tutor me anymore. My family moved last week, but decided it was best I start a proper education at a school, and now I'm here." 

"Where in Europe?" Avery asked.

"Croatia."

"Why wouldn't they take you with them? Make you go to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang? Then you would be closer to them, it makes sense." Mulciber added.

She didn't even know he was listening.

"As much as they wanted me with them, they knew learning the curriculum in a language I was unfamiliar with would be unfair, they thought it would be selfish to drag me with them when my education has always been a priority. And besides, I quite like it here so far, I can't imagine the welcome I would have received at either of those schools would be as nice as the one I'm getting now."

The boys seemed happy with her answer, except Mulciber who felt the need to catch her out on something, anything.

"Does that job your father took happen to be in relation with Grindelwald? He's dominated a good portion of Europe now, the coincidence seems a little suspicious, don't you think?"

What the hell was his problem.

"No. My father does not support Grindelwald."

Lie.

"And your Mother?"

"No."

Lie.

"What about you?"

This boy was unbelievable.

And as far as the truth goes, her real parents, were in fact stupid enough to buy into the dark wizards ideology. Wherever there was power, they would follow, even if they were blinded by the facts and insane morals. Of course Leila didn't believe a word they told her, it was pathetic to see how easily convinced and manipulated they could be. Her parents were weak, and when Leila reminded them of that, and showed them that she wasn't and couldn't be bought into their ideology, they'd often take their anger out on her.

"What is your problem?" She asked calmly with an undertone in annoyance.

"You don't need to get so defensive.There's no problem here sweetheart, I'm merely curious. You can't answer a question with a question though, so tell me, do you support Grindelwald and his ideas?"

"Of course I don't. I'm not mentally ill." She bit back.

There was silence for a few seconds before Nott jumped in to break up the situation.

"Right I think we should be moving on, this got dark quick." Nott added.

"I'm still waiting to hear your favourite food, you know. How will I ever know what to buy you for your birthday if your not giving me any ideas?" He joked.

"My birthday? For all you know it could be in June. Then you'd have a whole year to find out my preferences." She teased.

"Come on, give us your star sign, then I'll guess the date, I'm good at this."

She immediately took a liking to Nott, they already seemed to have something in common. She studied Astronomy and Astrology in her free time, it was also her favourite thing to read about.

"Virgo, you?"

"Taurus. Now, September I'm assuming?"

She nodded.

"Right, let me think-"

"-12th?"

"How in Merlin-"

"It's a talent of mine darling, don't question it."

She sat gaping.

"You know they say that Virgos are most compatible with Capricorn's? Tommy boy over there's birthday is the 31st of December."

She hit his arm playfully. She already felt calm and less on-edge around Ambrose. Like they could really be good friends, it made her smile.

"Never gonna happen." She waved her hand at him.

"If you say so."

"And the 12th? So that means your birthdays' next Saturday?"

"Yes it seems it is. Though I've never really celebrated my birthday so it's not that big of a deal."

"Nonsense love! It's not everyday a pretty little lady like yourself turns 17! There's a trip Saturday to Hogsmeade, first one of the year, get your permission slip signed and I'll take you out for a drink with us lot.That sound good?"

"Are you sure it's not just an excuse for you to get drunk?" She laughed.

"Trust me Leila, if I wanted to get drunk I wouldn't wait for a special occasion. Now I'm not taking no for an answer. You have two weeks to get permission for the best birthday of your life." He nudged her.

"Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do."

"I hope you can handle your alcohol darling, because that man right there can drink like a sailor." Rosier added.

"Oh shut it Julian, your just salty because you know you get tipsy off 1 butter-beer. Don't think I forgot Abraxas' birthday, you were falling down the stairs and threw up all over your dates shoes." Nott mocked, earning a glare and a middle finger from Rosier.

"Nothing wrong with being a lightweight Rosie." He patted his heart proudly while shaking his head with a grin.

Nott scowled. "How many times have I told you not to call me Rosie, it's Ambrose you prick!"

They all laughed and she felt at ease. Then she realised that somehow she needed a permission slip signed- by her parents. Which was going to be near impossible since she technically no longer had any of those.

She then realised what she had gotten herself into. She was going to be spending her Saturday night in a pub, surrounded by a group of boys, two in which had already expressed their rudeness to her, drunk.

Maybe she could convince Cat to come, would Nott mind? Would the other boys mind? Did the other boys even want her to come?

"Hey, Nott." She whispered to him.

"What's wrong?" He said with a concerned undertone.

"Are you sure your friends are okay with me coming Saturday? I don't want to force myself somewhere that I'm not wanted."

"The boys don't mind I assure you, one or two may need convinced but I'll handle it. If they're rude to you or make you feel uncomfortable then the two of us can just go elsewhere, I'm where the real party's at anyway."

She nodded. "Thanks, I really appreciate how nice you've been to me, if I hadn't met you and Cat, even Alfie, I don't know what I'd be doing right now." She smiled, but then quickly frowned when she seen the look on Notts face.

"Did you just say Alfie?" He asked.

"Yes, Alfie Knight. Do you two know each other?"

Why was he acting weird?

A few of the boys started to listen in again.

"Yes, we're familiar. How do you know him?"

"Well when I first arrived here this afternoon, it was before all of you got here. I was walking the corridors lost since no one bothered to show me around. I couldn't find the common room so I gave up and ended up sitting in the courtyard. When he approached me I seen that he was wearing Slytherin robes, so I asked him to help me find my way, and he did."

Some of the boys had unimpressed looks on their faces and Nott sat processing the information before Abraxas asked her,

"What did he say to you?"

She slightly hesitated before answering, "Well he introduced himself, told me how selfish Slytherins were, said I'd fit right in- 

-Now that I think about it, that compliment seemed a bit backhanded-

Where was I? Right, he told me to be careful but seemed to keep referring to a group of people as if they were taboo. I don't really know what he meant, but didn't pay much attention in case he was just being bias because of his own dislikes. I prefer to make my own judgments."

"Of course." Abraxas gave her a genuine smile and topped his plate with more food.


	6. Was it all worth it

It was now her 8th attempt of casting an extension charm on her case, she was frustrated and becoming more irritated by the second, but kept her cursing as hushed as possible, trying not to be too loud.

Leila sat with her legs crossed on her bedroom floor, her case open wide in front of her, continuously repeating the incantation-

"Capacious extremis!"

Nothing.

"Capacious extremis!"

Nothing.

She took a deep breathe, burying her anger deep down.

"Capacious extremis!"

She checked again, this time her hand moving further into the case than it would appear. Her eyes found it hard to decipher the illusion.

Her heart fluttered with nerves but she quickly rushed to her feet, with her wand between her teeth, and started gathering everything on her list.

-Clothes

-Shoes

-Books

-Cloak

-Money

-Wand

-Emergency healing kit?

She cast a silencing charm and locked her door - waking everyone up was the last thing she she needed right now. She hastily stuffed the piece of parchment into her pocket and quietly opened her wardrobe.

In an effort to pack as much as possible, she grabbed every dress, every jumper, cardigan, shirt, skirt, stockings, undergarments, knickers, and all of the pairs of shoes she owned. Throwing them into the case, she moved on to her bookshelf. Grabbing only the important books, leaving some to comply with the plan she had set out. She picked out two of the cloaks she owned, sprawling one out on her bed while she stuffed the other into her case.

She moved over to her bed-side cabinet and opened the draws. It was filled with parchment, ink, quills, and stamps, but that's not what she was looking for.

Leila pulled the draw out and emptied it's contents onto her bed. Flipping the draw over to its underside, she removed the disillusionment charm she had placed on the objects that were charmed to stick to it.

Her healing kit, and some newspaper clippings of Grindelwald's attacks. 

She piled everything back in to the draw before pulling three Geography books from her book-shelf. 

Quickly flipping to the sections of Europe, she took her quill and begun circling random cities and towns in Belgium and France, writing pointless notes and jotts'. It had to look believable, it had to look like she was genuinely interested and seeking information on possible places to seek refuge for when she finally arrived there. Gathering the few clippings she had of the newspaper reports, she also underlined key words of the articles, circling and highlighting places he had targeted - making sure to especially focus the attention of her ink on the events that took place during his raid on the Ministry in Belgium.

Because that's where she was planning on 'running-away' to.

The daughter of Clara and Montague Aberdeen made a daring escape to Europe to become a follower of the infamous dark-wizard, Gellert Grindelwald. If her parents were as naive and stupid enough to believe all of the 'diversions' and 'leads' she had set in place for her them to find, then she knew they wouldn't go looking for her. They may have the same values as the evil wizard, but would never admit it publicly. They would have to fake their heart-breaks and disbelief of her betrayal and 'disown' the girl, showing that they have no attachments or relations to their embarrassment of a daughter and her outrageous actions. They had a reputation to uphold, and didn't truly love or care for her enough to risk having it destroyed. If anything, they were probarbly relieved of not having to carry the burden of having her as their daughter anymore.

She slotted the cut up articles into the pages and shut them, she then 'hid' them under her mattress. A careless mistake you wouldn't want to make if you were actually planning on running away and staying away, she knew that it was one of the first places anyone would look if searching for clues on her whereabouts. That's what she was counting on.

When her parents finally woke in the morning, they would eventually notice she was gone. Her mother would open her bedroom door expecting to see Charlotte asleep in her bed, but in a few hours time that wouldn't be the case. She would be walking in on a bed that was yet to be slept in, and her wardrobe and draws completely emptied.

When it came to looking for clues about her disappearance, they would find everything she had set up for them, no traces of her real plans.

When finding the books in such an obvious hiding place, they would laugh to themselves about having such a ridiculous and silly daughter who couldn't even cover her own tracks. They would think she was pathetic, they would think they had the upper hand in knowing exactly where she had fled to.

She would have them right where she wanted them.

Quickly changing out of her nightgown, she threw on the first blouse she saw, a cardigain, and a grey skirt. Considering she hadn't slept since the night prior, she was well into the early hours of the morning, running on nothing but coffee and adrenaline. If she could recall correctly, she was on her 9th cup in the last 24hrs. She quickly brushed her hair and pinned it back, keeping her curls out of her face, and used a quick concealment charm on her eyes. Her lack of sleep wasn't being kind on her usually soft features.

She grabbed a pair of low black heeled pumps, threw on her cloak and collected the last of her necessities.

Leila stood gripping her trunk tightly in her hands by the bedroom door. Taking one last glance around the one room that had become her safe haven over the years. She thought about how it was her santuary, where she slept at night, where she would flee to after rows with her parents and brothers. The bed that she would cry herself to sleep in most nights, only to be waken hours later by trechorous night terrors. The windowsill she would sit at when she was awaiting owls from Dumbledore. The foot of her bed where her toy chest rested when she was a little girl, and the space a few feet infront of her where she withered in pain from a curse, earning nothing but a hateful glance from the owner of the wand that it had shot out of.

She kept her eyes there for a moment, not being able to tear her gaze away.

Her heart hurt but was already broken, it couldn't break any more could it?

She was afraid it had become to weak and fragile, as though it was going to shatter any moment. She bit her lip and drew in a shaky breathe, turning on her heel she exhaled, raising her wand to remove the silencing charm and lock on the door.

Slowly and cautiously, she turned the handle, trying not to let any sounds echo through the corridor on the other side. Leila opened it softly and peaked out of the frame to make sure no one else was around to catch her out. Letting it close gently behind her, she stood still and silent for a minute, not trusting her instincts.

Revelio!

The quick non-verbal spell revealed nothing.

She had to make it to the other side of the manor in order to get to her fathers study. Not only were there numerous wards in place, but her parents bedroom was right across the hall from it, easily accessible, as her father would always remind her. She knew this was undoubtedly the riskiest part of her plan, but was completely necessary if she wanted to have any money to live off.

Swiftly, she sucessfully made it down 3 of the corridors with no problems or interferences. Thankfully, both of her brothers were deep sleepers and wouldn't even wake to the sound of her screaming, even if she was sitting right next to them. That was the easy part over with.

As Leila grew closer to her parents wing of the manor, her heart-beat quickened drastically. Nerves got the better of her and the sound of her heart thumping in her chest was getting distracting and too loud to drown out.

Take a deep breathe, her brain warned.

After getting a grip of her always-betraying body, she found herself standing between the two doors.

Her parents bedroom door was on her left, her fathers study on her right.

She became observant as to which wards were put in place over the room. On the ocassional visits, her father would de-ward them, verbally, right in front of her face. He would regret that. Out of the 4 visits she had to endure over the past month or two, she payed close attention to the incantations he used. She memorised the wand movements, and repeatedly practised the pronunciation over in her head. There were a total of 8 wards in place.

The fist was easy to remove, a simple wave of her wand and Openfero.

The next 6 were also easy to get rid of, though they got more challenging as she progressed, burning more of her magical core as she went.

She knew she was going to be exhausted by the time she was out, but kept reminding herself just how necessary it was that she focused and smartly managed her magic.

The next, is one she could never say right. The wand movement was easy enough, she just struggled to pronounce the peri part of 'Othliperius Reptor' correctly.

"Othliperius Reptor!"

Nothing.

"OthliperIUs Reptor!"

The ward glowed then disintegrated into nothing.

"Terapute Imbolu-"

Her voice was quickly cut off by the sound of a quick, almost unheard movement to her right.

Her body briskly turned to face the doorway she had not long entered through, only to be stood face-to-face with one of her brothers.

He was standing with his wand raised, pointed directly at her.

Shit.

She non-verbally cast a silencing charm around them, making sure that he didn't notice. She was unsure of his intentions, but no matter what they were , he was not going to be the reason she got caught tonight.

"What are you doing out of bed?" She innocently asked him, as if she wasn't just caught red-handed trying to break into her fathers study.

He ignored her question completely and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Harvey, lower your wand before you do something stupid." She warned.

Her brother Harvey was only a year older than her, but was one of the most spiteful wizards she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. As soon as the boy turned 18, his attitude towards her became even more cruel and un-forgiving, not that she thought it could even be possible. It was always her family against her. Even when Harvey and Louis were clearly the ones in the wrong, she would be the one blamed and punnished for any fights or arguments that broke out. They were simply too well-behaved and perfect to do such things, Leila on the other hand, was a disobedient, attention seeking little girl, as they would all say.

Her parents always wanted sons. They didn't need to say it aloud though, their actions spoke louder than their words ever could.

"I'm not the one trying to break into Dad's study! Merlin, you always were a pain in the arse, looking for trouble, but you've gone too far now Leila, someone has to put you in your place."

"Stupify!"

She was caught off gaurd by his outburst, but still managed to defelcted it effortlessly.

"Expelliamus!" He shouted, she defelcted it again.

In return, she sent a stinging jinx that hit him in the arm.

"Ah, you fucking bitch!" He yelped.

She scoffed at him, "And your implying that that person is going to be you? For fuck sake Harvey, you can never just mind your own bloody business! Always got something to prove!" She hissed.

His nose flared in anger and he tightened his grip on his wand. "locomotor mortis!"

Her legs locked into place, making her unable to move from the position she was stuck in.

"Confringo!" He was blasted on to his back, struggling to catch his breathe after being winded by the impact.

She rapidly used the counter-curse to pry her legs free, then proceeded to stalk towards him, like a predator trying to intimidate it's prey.

"Don't keep fighting me Harvey because you and I both know who's the stronger dueller here."

"Your a fucking...spolit....brat! Levicorpus!" He chocked out through straggled breathes.

Once again she deflected the jinx with an aggravated huff.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, brother, I have places to be. Your pathetic idea of dueling is a waste of time that I don't have."

"Incarcerous!" Thick, black ropes bled from her wand, tightening around his stance, making him struggle on the floor as he tried to break through them.

She kneeled down next to his weak figure and wretched his wand from his feeble grip.

She snapped it clean in half, right in front of his horror-struck face. A smile formed on her lips at his confusion.

"Oh Harvey, what is it? Cat caught your tongue?" She mocked with a small smile.

"I.. I...don't understand. Why...why are you doing this Charlotte?"

Her smile disapeared and she took in a small, hostile breathe.

"You know why." She said through gritted teeth.

He opened his mouth to retort but she quickly cut him off.

"Goodbye, Harvey." She raised her wand at him slowly.

His eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as realization settled in. "Charlotte, don't-"

"Stupefy!" His body went limp in unconsciousness.

She stood quickly, not wasting anytime before grabbing his legs and dragging him into a room furthur down the hall. Once they are on the other side of the door, she stared down at his figure, not knowing what to feel. Should she feel bad? No. Definetely not. Should she pity him for being left here with her family? Probably, but he was just as bad as the rest of them. Should she curse him for almost ruining everything she'd worked so hard for? Yes. But she didnt have time for such petty antics.

She paced, biting her lip, playing with her wand, as she contemplated what to do next.

Not hesitating, she pointed her wand over his head and uttered, "Obliviate."

Leila got rid of their entire encounter, it was just too risky. She had no time for making such wreckless mistakes, especially when her life was counting on it. She turned around, heading straight for the door, not taking the time to look back over her shoulder to her unconscious brother.

Back in the hallway, she resumed where she was before being interrupted. For some reason, her hands couldn't stop shaking. Getting caught was making her nerves erupt into a freinzy.

"Terapute Imbolules."

The spell took 5 attempts before she even seen the ward ripple. It just wouldn't budge.

Was it warded with dark magic? She knew the idea was insane, but wouldn't put it past him as a possibility.

She contemplated her other options.

Blood magic? It was strong and reliable, and seemed like the option her father would most likely go with. If his blood was what was keeping the door locked, was there was a possibility that hers could un-lock it? Afterall, his blood did technically run through her veins.

She braced herself before taking her wand and carefully cutting into her palm, just enough to draw blood.

She placed her bleeding left hand on the door handle and repeated the incantation.

"Terapute Imbolules."

Leila turned the handle once again, and this time, it opened into the study. Not letting herself divulge in arrogance, she rapidly begun healing the cut on her hand and cleaned the door handle before closing it behind her.

Her eyes searched the room in suspicion before her feet carried her to a large painting on the wall. How predictable and foolish, the one place anyone with a brain would look. She rolled her eyes at her fathers blatant stupidity and drew her wand to start removing yet, another set of wards.

Wards clearly weren't her fathers strong point. Being 16 years old and being able to retire every single one he'd put in place, either made her an incredibly skilled and intelligent witch, or her father a fucking moron.

Not taking any care when she ripped the painting of the mountain range off the wall, Leila stared at the blank sight in front of her.

A concealment charm.

"Delitrius." The safe instantly appeared before her eyes.

Option B, her father was a fucking moron.

4..6..7..9..4 - he didn't care to hide that either. Whenever she was in his company, he never felt the need to. He would also come to regret that obvious lack of judgment.

Although her family didn't have a lot of common sense, their money advisor did.

They recommended not to keep more than 500 galleons to a safe, in case of the unfortunate event of a break-in-and-robbery. Even though the chances of that were very slim, their rare occasion of taking advice from someone actually benefited them. Because they were in fact, being robbed at this very moment in time, by their own daughter.

The whole situation was laughable.

Taking out a small, velvet red sack that was again, extended with a charm, she began grabbing as many coins as possible and stuffing them into the bag. This continued until her last handful. Leaving an empty safe with nothing but one galleon in the centre of it, Leila thrived in her pettiness and shut the safe before placing the canvas back on to the wall.

She glanced around the small room in search for a clock, or any indication as to what time it was. She wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd left the comfort of her room, it had felt like hours and seconds at the same time.

It was still dark outside, so no later than 5 in the morning. The sun would be rising soon due to the late August summer, which meant she had to get moving quickly.

Managing to make it out of the room without any complications, she hurried down the halls with an intention of heading towards the kitchens.

Passing a large grandfather clock that towered in the foyer, she seen that it was 3 minutes past 5. It seemed her altercation with Harvey had made her late.

"Prick." She whispered to herself.

Entering through the main Kitchen doors, she glanced around in search for her companion.

It was dark, so she cast a lumos duo, making the silverware of the kitchen glow in the soft light. As she cleared through the room in search, she heard a pan drop to the floor behind her. She approached near to the counter that the sound had seemed to come from, only to be faced with exactly who she was looking for.

"Elzie! What the bloody hell are you doing? You almost gave me a heart-attack!" She exclaimed as she looked down on the small house elf who was hiding into a corner.

"Elzie apologies to Miss! She didn't mean to scare anyone! Elzie thought that when Miss didn't arrive she'd been caught! Elzie was expecting some angry masters! Elzie apologises for her badness!" The small elf sobbed.

"Don't be ridiculous Elzie. And it's okay, you can calm down now I'm here and I'm perfectly fine. I'm sorry I was late I ran into - a complication - but it's handled and shouldn't be a problem. Are you ready to go?"

The small elf nodded and held out a hand for Leila to take.

She did with pleasure, and with the contact, she felt herself slip from the kitchens. Only to re-appear seconds later, at what seemed to be a backroad.

She let go of the little elf's hand, and turned in every direction, taking in the scenery.

"Elzie, where are we?" She quizzed.

"A backroad, Miss, it's not too far from the manor you see, only about a mile or so down that road." The elf pointed in a direction, but it was still too dark to make out any buildings, or anything for that matter.

Leila tuned to the little elf, squaring slightly so she could be face to face with her. She grabbed her hand and pulled her into a gentle embrace.

"Thank you Elzie. I appreciate you doing this more than you could ever imagine. If it wasn't for you I'd be stuck with no way out, those wards would've been impossible and foolish to even attempt breaking through. Why they had the ministry do it in the first place is beyond me, but thank you, again."

Elzie pulled away from Leila's hug, her eyes filled with tears.

"Elzie has seen Miss Charlotte grow up since she was just a baby! Elzie is so proud of Miss Charlotte and so happy to have called her a friend! Elzie was so very happy to help Miss Charlotte, no matter what consequences are when she returns. Elzie will always help a friend." She said with the biggest smile on her face, but Leila could see the fear that lingered behind her huge, teary eyes.

She then realised that sooner or later her parents were going to figure out exactly how she had made her escape. With the wards in place, she wouldn't have been able to just walk out the door, all of the fireplaces in the house that could be used to floo with where blocked off, except from the one in her parents bedroom. Which left the house elves. Her parents were never gentle when taking their anger out in the poor creatures.

If Leila wasn't there to get the backlash, Elzie would be.

Her heart ached in sorrow at the realisation, such a kind soul, devoted her life to a family that were no where near deserving of it.

The only way she could avoid that wrath is if she wasn't there herself to receive it.

If she was a free elf, she would never have to return to that awful house again.

With no hesitation, Leila stood up and removed her left shoe, along with her sock, then put her heel back on before turning to Elzie again.

"I'm sorry it's not clean. I swear I've only had it on for no more than an hour. But if you will accept it, I'd love to be the one to free you, Elzie. You deserve it, I'm sorry I couldn't do it sooner." Leila held out the grey sock, feeling slightly guilty that it has just been on her foot a few seconds ago.

The small elf stood gaping at the piece of clothing. "Miss has presented Elzie with a sock!" The little elf burst into tears of joy, jumping up and down in front of Leila.

"Elzie! Elzie! Your free! Go! Go wherever your bloody heart desires! Don't waste your new freedom standing here with me!" She said assuringly with a wide grin on her face.

"Elzie thanks Miss Charlotte again! Elzie is a FREE ELF!" The little creature screamed in excitement, then with a snap of her fingers, she disappeared into nothingness.

Leaving Leila on a backroad with nothing but the pending sunrise and her trunk.


	7. Play the game

For Leila to complain that she was tired would be an understatement.

The longer she sat at the table listening to their conversations, the more her eyes would wave in and out of focus and her hearing barely registered the topics they discussed. She was minutes away from falling asleep right then and there at the dinner table.

She couldn't help but replay last night over and over again in her head, wondering the events that followed when she was finally discovered to be gone. She wondered what it would've been like for Harvey to wake up from unconsciousness, just to find himself tied up in magical ropes, in a room that wasn't his. How confused he would be when he realised he had no recollection of last night, when she remembered every word shared between them.

The look on her Mother's face when she barged through the door to her daughters bedroom, only to find it empty. She would open her closet and draws to find every item of clothing gone, the same way her Father would with his almost-empty safe. He'd be face to face with a single galleon that would lie there, mocking him for his uttermost stupidity.

What would they do? Would they search the house for her? Would they think it was one of her pathetic attempts at getting attention? Would they just assume she would be back by dinner? Would they even care that she was gone?

No - a simple answer.

She contemplated how they would react when they discovered no breakfast had been prepared that morning. Thankfully, Elzie would be no-where to be found. If the elf had used her common sense like had Leila hoped, she'd be as far away from the house as she could possibly get.

Leila knew they would be outraged when it all settled in, how she of all people had the audacity to rid them of their servant. She also knew that soon enough, they would begin connecting the dots. She always showed kindness to the creatures, often expressing her opinions and anger towards her parents and brothers for their careless mistreatment. They knew who would be responsible for their missing house elf.

What made it all the more satisfying though, was that they couldn't do a damn thing about it. How could they punish someone who was no where to be found?

In the 12 long hours they had been awake, what would they have done with that time? Did they even think to search her room? Would they have discovered the books she had planted? Would they keep the incident to themselves or would they send people looking for her?

For her sake, she hoped the second option never crossed their minds.

Leila's gaze was fixed onto a goblet , trying her hardest to bring herself back to reality and her surroundings.

"Leila?" A gentle voice asked her.

Her mind was still racing, deep in thought.

Someone to her left, who she recognised to be Cat, had grabbed her arm and began shaking her.

"Leila!" They retorted again, this time snapping her back to awareness.

"Yes?" She finally grounded herself, pulling a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

Cat was looking at her concerned. Leila turned to look around the table to find everyone in the group staring at her with mixed expressions.

"Are you okay? You've been zoned out for ages, I've been calling your name but you didn't react, I was worried for a second." Cat asked her.

"You looked pretty deep in thought, what were you thinking about?" Rosier added.

She obviously had to lie, something she knew was going to become a frequent occurrence.

"Nothing, I'm just really tired. I haven't slept properly in days, I apologise for being rude." She said innocently, hoping they would drop it.

"I see. Well, no worries, we just wanted to ask your opinion on something. We need someone new to give us an honest answer."Cat said with a smirk, then motioning to Abraxas with an expecting look.

The blond glared at the girl for a few seconds, before huffing and rolling his eyes.

"Blondie over there has a little crush-" Lestrange joked, turning his body round to face the Ravenclaw table.

"You see that girl there with the braids, in between the two red-heads." He sneakily nodded towards a beautiful dark-skinned girl who was giggling with her friends.

"Her name is Cecilia Harroway. Abraxas wants to ask her out but don't know how to go about it, we thought you may have some insight since the rest of these boys here are hopeless romantics." He bantered, receiving a playful punch to the arm from Ambrose.

"I happen to have the best ideas actually, it's not my fault you all choose to ignore them." The boy argued.

"With good reason Nott. If I pulled any of the tricks you've recommended to me over the years, I would've been hexed into oblivion by now."Lestrange stated.

"9 times out of 10 I'm successful, I really don't see your point here. Have I not got the most shags out of all you lot so far?" He exclaimed proudly, with reactions such as glares and eye rolls from the boys, and looks of disgust from the girls.

"That's what I thought. Now Brax, if your smart you'll take my advice, this one works everytime." He wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk.

"-When the girls alone, in a hallway or something, send a little stinging jinx her way. MAKE SURE she didn't see it was YOU, or it will ruin the whole thing. Approach her suddenly, saying how lucky it was you caught her just at the right moment-

-That's when you quickly use the counter curse on her, and then to thank you, she'll ask what she can do to repay the favour-

-THIS is when you ask for a date. It's smooth and quite brilliant if you ask me."

All of the girls sat gaping at his revelation, Leila also stunned to her seat, confused to Notts outrageous tactics on getting girls to go out with him.

Was this boy alright in the head? She genuinely asked herself.

"Mate, not being funny but I think you need a trip to the infirmary to get that head of yours checked or something. Your sure you weren't dropped on your head as a child?" Abraxas said in a revolted and rightly concerned tone.

"Honestly Nott, I pity any of those poor girls that played into your little con." Aurellie added, equally as disgusted as Malfoy.

Leila was quite surprised to see her joining in on the conversation, she'd been quiet for the entity of the feast - Her eyes never leaving the raven haired boy who's eyes were looking anywhere but her.

"Why go to all that trouble when you could just approach the girls and ask them like a normal gentlemen would? Do you really fear rejection that much that you'd leave them with no other option out of debt?" Leila inquired, not meaning to sound like she was mocking the boy, but coming off that way nevertheless.

She didn't give time for him to defend himself before she turned to a torn looking Malfoy, "Honestly, if you want my advice, just be yourself. And If she doesn't like that, which I doubt, she's clearly not worth your time." She said while biting into a piece of lemon and honey tart.

The white-haired boy hummed but didn't seem convinced.

"What is she interested in?" She asked him trying to make something out of the situation.

The boy thought for a moment before coming to an evident realisation, "I don't know."

"Your in a state like this over a girl you know nothing about? Merlin, maybe try getting to know her first before asking her on a date. Imagine how awkward that would be, you would having nothing to talk about let alone bond over." She said expressively while shaking her head in disbelief.

The boy dramatically put his head in his hands in defeat.

Leila turned her head to peer at the Ravenclaw one more time before she tuned back to her tart, taking another bite as the conversation moved to more lighter topics, thanks to Cat and her adorable fascination with Magical Beasts.

They only stayed at the table a little while longer before departing back to the common room. Laughs and jokes rang in the air around her as she walked with her arm looped with Abraxas', talking rubbish and giggling at Nott and Lestranges' constant bickering.

"Are they always like that?" She asked with a small smile still lingering on her lips.

It was then that Lestrange tripped Nott over with his foot, causing him to plummet to the ground face-first. Ambrose instinctively fisted the other boys robes and dragged him down to the floor with him, making a yelp sound from Lestranges mouth when he hit his funny bone off of the stone flooring.

"Unfortunately, ever since they were small children actually. They grew up close due to their families generational acquaintance, they're like brothers in a sense. I envy them sometimes, they rely on each-other and their loyalty never falters. There's been many occasions where they've saved each others skins subconsciously. It's almost expected between them both, like an unspoken vow, I suppose." His face was like stone, his eyes storming but still remaining gentle.

She hummed in thought. "It would be nice to have a friendship like that. I never really had the opportunities for making friends growing up, it was always quite lonely. Dolls and books can only cure a child's boredom to a certain extent, eventually they just want another kid they can mess around with, and just, be a child." This was one of the first truthful things she had admitted while being in the groups' company. Not having to tread on eggshells to make sure she hadn't slipped up accidentally, Malfoy actually listened to her and cared about what she had to say.

It was a foreign feeling, but comforting.

He nodded in agreement, hesitating to share his own childhood experiences.

"My childhood was quite similar. Being an only child was dreadful. There was no time for me to mess around and play, it was like they expected me to come out of the womb an 18 year old man or something. They didn't want to deal with a little child so I was mostly in the company of house elves until I was old enough to look after myself. That's when I started to get more attention from my parents. It was nice at first, to feel wanted and cared for, but it only lasted for so long before I was thrown into a pit of darkness, where I was expected to buy into the hunger for power and brilliance my parents had."

She watched the way his jaw clenched and eyes flickered as he thought back on those memories that seemed to eat at him.

"I was only in the first few months of my second year when my Father first introduced me to one of his many colleagues from the Ministry. It was overwhelming. I guess that was the moment I realised I had my entire life planned out for me, that I was never really going to have a say in any of it. Who I married, my job, my whole bloody life had been thought about and set in place before my Mother was even aware of my existence. Sometimes it just feels too much you know? Too much pressure to carry, too much is expected of me and sometimes I really don't think I can live up to it all." His voice wavered and she could tell the lump in his throat was straining his words, her heart ached for the boy.

"We have more in common than you think Abraxas. I know we've only just met, and we barely know each other, but I'll always be here to talk. I realise it's not much help, but the offer will always be there." She looked at him, biting her lip nervously as his eyes focused on the ground in front of him.

He then tuned to face her, those grey eyes he had locked on to her, with the violent sea crashing in a tempest, against jagged rocks and the stormy sky above swirled in anguish.

A small smile stretched at the corner of his mouth and he leant in to place a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"Now why do I envy those idiots when I could have a friendship like that with you, hm?" He whispered softly as he pulled away, her soft brunette curls tickling his cheek.

"Is this a friendship proposal Abraxas Malfoy?" She said with fake surprise and dramatics, the back of her hand resting on her forehead as she fake-swooned.

"Only if your planning on accepting, darling." He playfully put his hand over his heart.

"How could I ever say no?" She giggled.

As the group tuned the corner and the wall to the common room became visible, Malfoy un-looped her arm and twirled her around, which caught her off guard, making her lose her balance and sent her colliding with a tall, firmly built figure.

"Shit!" She cursed while she realised a strong arm had wrapped around her figure, keeping her from falling to the ground.

When she looked up she was meant with the cold, distasted eyes of Tom Riddle.

His jaw was clenched firmly and he held the urge to roll his eyes at the sight in front of him.

When Nott took it upon himself to introduce the girl to his group of men, Tom had kept his gaze firmly upon the book in front of him, not interested in the boys' constant attempts to introduce new birds into their group. He didn't mind Cat, she was tolerable and not too annoying, in contrast to Aurellie and Olive who had just assumed there place within and made no moves to go elsewhere.

He supposed some females in the group were a good chance to mix things up and keep it interesting, however, the girls Ambrose would often bring were all boring, nonchalant and had no real personality to them.

Not expecting anything different, along with Ambrose's incessant need to aquatint the two, he finally made the effort to lift his gaze. His deep green, almost black eyes met an emerald pair that bore into him with something he was quite unfamiliar with. Admittedly, he was quite taken back.

For the first time in what felt like years, the eyes staring back at him weren't full of envy, hate, adoration, lust, or want. In fact, what had seemed to unsettled him most, was the lack of fear in her stare.

The green that invaded his eyesight was filled with curiosity, excitement, genuine interest and a rightful amount of wariness.

She didn't trust any of the people around her completely, which was smart on her part, he thought. But why was the question that ticked at his brain.

She thought too much before she spoke and answered questions that were about herself, analysed intentions and possible ulterior motives, constantly making sure she said the right thing, never letting her guard down completely. She didn't try to come across as too forward nor too shy, she was calculated but still remained relaxed.

She reminded him of himself in a sense.

What he did notice however, was that whenever Nott, or any of the boys made movements that were too sudden, or sounds that she wasn't expecting, she'd either flinch or stay still for a few seconds, then relax when she was reminded of her surroundings.

What could she possibly be hiding that would make her so cautious? He pondered for a while, letting theories rack through his brain when he lifted his stare again.

This time he was met with her eyes, though they weren't looking at him, they seemed to be fixed intently on a goblet in front of her. The people around her laughed, joked and argued, bickering over useless things and engaging with eachother - winding Malfoy up over a crush he had on a Ravenclaw? He managed to catch, before the rest of the eyes had tuned to her with mixed expressions and confusion.

She payed them no mind, though Tom wasn't sure she was even aware of the sudden attention she had attracted. Her brain was deciphering, replaying, imaging, busy. The girls gaze never left the silver goblet once as she floated further away, her head making way for the clouds. It's like she wasn't even there with them, not mentally anyway.

He heard Cat calling her name, trying to bring her back to her surroundings, but her mind was elsewhere. What was she thinking about? Who was she thinking about? And the one question he couldn't wait to find the answer to:

Who was Leila Fernsby?

"Sorry. It seems my balance doesn't fall short of a fawn on ice." She tried to joke as she grounded herself.

Pulling the hair out of her face that had escaped her clips in her moment of clumsiness, she looked at the boys arm that was still wrapped around her. His eyes intense and unnerving. Was he angry at her? Surely bumping into him couldn't have made him that mad at-

"Just watch where your going in future, Fernsby." He said warningly as he tore his gaze from hers.

She watched as pulled his arm from her waist, straightened his demeanour, as well as his robes and walked directly past her in a quick beeline to the common room, not sparing her another glance.

She tuned to watch him walk away with her mouth slightly gaping at his repetitive rudeness towards her.

Excluding Aurellie and Sage, everyone had made the effort to be welcoming and kind towards her. Mulcibers annoying need to grill her for information was insufferable but justifiable, after all she was new. She supposed Aurelie's constant distaste was just her personality, she wouldn't put it past her.

But Tom Riddle, what could she have possibly done to offend him so much? She racked her brain in thought, which was abruptly interrupted when two bodies, that were much larger than her own, moved to each side of her and both throwing an arm around her neck.

Lestrange to her left, Nott to her right. Malfoy was right, they always did come in a pair.

"He's always a tad moody the first night back, don't pay him any mind love." Lestrnage said as they begun walking again.

"Better moody than annoying. I'd rather deal with Riddle's mood swings than your constant need to prove me wrong about everything, you twat." Nott shook his head and pulled away from Leila to let them into the common room.

"allaite une vipor dans votre sein."

The three of them entered, the rest of the group following shortly behind them.

When she turned back to observe them all, Aurellie and Abraxas were in a friendly conversation, Cat had her arm linked with Julian, since the two sat separately at dinner, she was oblivious to their now obvious infatuation with one another. Rosier and Cat seemed to be a perfect match in hindsight. Cat was the kindest soul and radiated love and affection, something Leila was undoubtedly jealous of, and Julians aura was just as powerful.

She could tell by the way they looked at each other with such adoration and happiness that they were in deep. The smile that had take a permanent residence on Leila's rosy lips faltered ever so slightly when she seen Julian lean in close to Cat, whispering what she assumed was sweet nothings, getting a reaction from Cat that was a wide grin and flushed cheeks.

How scolded herself for the way she had let her emotions take away her genuine happiness for her new friend. Jealousy always sat at the back of her mind during any intimate or affectionate scene displayed in front of her. She always felt disgusted after she let her mind reel in it, she hated to be so selfish.

Cat was a pure soul and deserved to have the heart of someone like Rosier.

Her attention then drifted to Jacob and Olive, they had moved away from the rest of the group and were sitting in a corner on a deep, green leathered arm chair. Avery lounged on it while Olive sat on his knee, both eyeing each other with lust and desire.

Leila shot a disapproving glance at them. They genuinely looked like they were about to fuck right then and there in the middle of the common room, no shame attached. Save for the way their eyes were undressing each other, Avery's hand kept finding it's way to the hem of Olives skirt, slowly but teasingly moving his hands under to caress her thy, only for the blonde to pull it down and back in her eyesight, dismissing his protests teasingly.

"I can't begin to tell you how many times I caught them half- naked and on top of each other during my prefect rounds last year."

A low voice from her right spat, as if disgusted.

When she turned to match a face to the voice, she was met with the familiar set jaw and dark waved hair of no one other than Tom Riddle.

"So he can initiate an actual conversation?" She said sarcastically.

Not being able to fight his urge to roll his eyes again, he clenched his jaw in annoyance, ignoring her comment.

"And I can imagine, they don't really try to hide their attraction to one another, do they? I suppose they choose to show their affections...more...physically?" She furrowed her brows at the pair who's tongues were now deep in each other's throats. 

Not wanting to pry on their intimacy any longer, she drew her eyes from them to Tom, who had also made the effort to look elsewhere.

He could feel her gaze burning into the side of his head. In order to find out more about her, he knew he would have to engage with her. The voices in his head argued amongst one another, one side telling him to turn on his usual charm, that had never failed him in the past, especially with females. There wasn't much he had to do, a smile, caressing of their arm, or if that didn't work, a hand on the small of their back usually did the trick. Leaning into the crooks of their necks to whisper would often leave words tumbling out of their mouths like their lives depended on it, their blushes in response to the feeling of his warm breathe on their necks. So easy.

After avoiding her stare for what felt like hours, he softened his jaw and eyes, trying to get rid of the intimidating allure that often inhabited them. He let a smile tug at his lips as he stepped closer to her, tilting his head and tucking a lose strand of curly hair behind her ear. He heard her breathe hitch and her eyes firmly kept to his hand, making sure it never left her eyesight. Tom let it lightly trail down to her arm, then to the small of her back in an attempt to turn them in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?" She asked accusingly, eyeing the hand that had touched a little too close south to her liking.

She kept still and demanding, what the hell was he playing at?

"Have a drink with me?" He asked, though his tone indicating it wasn't really up for debate. He motioned his head towards the two leather sofas that sat in front of the fire, the coffee table in between them hosting a bottle of fire whiskey.

His sudden change in attitude unsettled her, why was he being so nice all of a sudden?

He wanted something. It was pretty obvious.

It was this moment she realised that the rest of the group had disappeared to their dorms or elsewhere, not including Olive and Jacob in the far corner. The common room was pretty much empty, leaving her with no excuse not to join him.

She reluctantly eyed the whiskey and huffed in defeat, then her gaze fell back on Riddle as she nodded.

He lead them over to the table, letting her take one of the sofas. He sat on the coach opposite to her, one leg crossed over loosely as he sunk back into it, his chin resting on his fisted hand. He narrowed his at her as he watched her sit. Her posture remained airy and elegant, there was a certain lightness in the way she carried herself, not boasting in a sense, it wasn't flaunting or intimidating. No, she was like a swan, she acted like she knew she was better than everyone else, but never let it show through her actions or composure. It was quite fascinating to watch, the way she sat to mirror him, her legs also crossed, though more lady-like, and her chin also lightly rested on her hand.

She eyed him curiously, why was he staring at her like that? He seemed relaxed but she could tell it was just for show. This was how he got people to trust and open up around him, he would convince them to loosen around him by showing them that he could too, people are more likely to match actions and vibes if intimidated, it's their way of coping and rationalising things, she supposed.

She watched as his other spare hand reached into his blazer pocket, only to pull out what she recognised as a packet of muggle cigarettes.

Not leaving her eyes, he pulled one out and lit it, letting the drag swirl around in his lungs for a while before letting it bleed from his mouth, slowly and elegantly.

Was he really just going to smoke in the middle of the common room? The soft moaning she heard from behind her shook her from her thoughts as she turned around to look at the couple. Olive was now straddling Jacob - Tom's surprise habit was completely out-weighed by the fact that there were two students practically fucking each other through their clothes without a care in the world. She scoffed and her face mirrored the second-hand embarrassment she felt suddenly.

Tom was still looking at her intently, though no words had been shared yet, he wasn't sure if he was going to have to be the one to break the silence. Given the opportunity of having her distracted by the noises sounding from behind her, he leaned forward and poured two glasses of whiskey. He took his and went back to his original position. When she tuned back to him with a look of utter displease on her face, he motioned for her to take the glass that sat untouched.

He watched her analyse it for a few seconds, before she looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"It's poison." He said sarcastically while taking another drag.

She shook her head in dismissal. "No, it's not that. I don't drink whiskey." She shrugged.

He was quiet for a few moments, humming in thought as he processed her words.

"I do, however-" She moved from her seating position, leaning her knee on the coffee table as she bent fowards into his space,

-smoke cigarettes." She said while resting her hand on his thy as she plucked the cigarette from his mouth and brought it to her own.

Caught of guard by her sudden intrusion into his space, he found his jaw stiffen and his body tense when her hand came to rest on his thy. Never letting their eye contact break, he watched as she leaned back into the sofa with her legs crossed again, taking her own drag from his cigarette.

The smoke filtered through her blushed pink lips, danced over her eyelashes, casting mist and fog over the vivid green that kept peaking through.

Another groan from Avery broke their intense moment. She didn't even want to turn this time, afraid of what she would be letting her eyes in on. Tom's face however, confirmed her suspicions, as she watched his face contort to show exactly what he was feeling when he looked at the scene in front of him.

"Has it never occurred to them to maybe, get a room?" She said, more thinking out loud rather than to him.

His face fell back to composure and a smirk found it's way on to his lips.

"The boy's that have the pleasure of sharing a dorm with Avery have forbade him from bringing Olive anywhere near their room." He said while taking a sip of whiskey.

"With what reason?" She really was curious.

His smirk grew larger and he tilted his head slightly as he looked over at the mess of a girl that sat on top of Jacob. Her blonde locks were a disarray, contrary to her usual neat appearance - clearly from how much Avery liked to pull at it. Her cheeks were flushed bright red and her eyes lazy from lust. She was completely undone just by the touch of her lover.

"She's a screamer." His smirk grew slightly more at his announcement, before downing the remainder of his whiskey.

She'd asked and got her answer. Not one she was expecting, but still one nevertheless. Olive and Jacob seemed like they were together, but not together like Cat and Julian were. She wasn't sure if her observations were correct considering she'd only been within their company for a few hours - yet she couldn't help but feel like their relationship went no further than just being physically attracted to one another. They never shared those glances like Cat and Julian did, she knew that the sweet nothings he would whisper to her were a lot more than that, just by the way Olive reacted to his words.

"Are they together?" She inquired, again genuinely curious.

He thought about his answer for a few seconds, shifting in his seat as he moved to sit with his elbows on his knees and his chin on clasped hands.

"Physically? I think the answers quite obvious."

He moved to re-fill his glass with more whiskey.

"Emotionally? It depends on who which of the two your asking about."

He set down the bottle and brought the glass up to his lips, hesitating to take a sip before deciding against it, and letting it rest in his hand.

"Avery's only in it for the sex - has been from the start, which Olive was quite aware of when they began seeing each other at the start of last year." His eyes were set on the fire as he explained.

"Olive let her emotions get the better of her. She knew what kind of relationship she was getting herself into when it all started. For some reason, she believed things would eventually change between them and his affections would grow to be more, like hers had, but that's clearly not the case, much to her disappointment." He said almost mockingly as if she was a silly little girl for falling for the man she'd been sleeping with for the past year.

Leila let the information sink in. So it started out as just physical? On Averys part, it seemed to stay that way, not going any further than sexual interest. Olive however, the poor girl had let herself fall for a man who wanted her for nothing more than sex. How she could even put herself in such a position was beyond Leila, and the fact that she was completely aware the entire time made her mind lurch in confusion and pity.

"Why does she stay? I mean, if she knows she's not going to receive more than sexual attention from him, why does she put herself in such a position of weakness that he could use against her at any point?"

He was silent for a few seconds, his gaze moving from the fire to a confused looking Leila - though he didn't meet her eyes.

"Because the stupid bitch is in love with him, isn't it obvious?" He laughed as if what he said was actually amusing.

Leila glared at him, though his eyes weren't meeting hers for him to see so. What a prick. What a stupid, self-absorbed, spiteful prick! Although she didn't know Olive, nor owed her a damn thing, Tom's choice of words he'd used when talking about the girl made her want to hex and curse him endlessly.

"Your such a Prick." She shook her head in distaste at the boy in front of her.

He met her eyes, clearly her choice of words had ticked something off within him, his gaze was no longer soft or relaxed like before. It was like daggers dragging through her skin, burning into her with anger and disgust. It was like he'd flipped a switch and the person she had sat with only a few minutes ago was no where to be seen behind those piercing eyes.

Although it was unsettling and unnerving, she wasn't intimidated. She'd dealt with the same look before countless times, what made this boy any different? Did he think he could scare her? Make her cry? Make her feel weak? Make her crumble in defeat and submission?

"Excuse me?" He finally bit out with a bitter tone.

"Excuse you, you heard me quite clearly, did you not?" She retorted, trying to test how he would react when given attitude.

What the hell was she doing? Was she trying to test his patience? Because if so, it was wearing thin. If anyone other than the spiteful girl sitting in front of him had even dreamt about talking to him in such a way, they would instantly be on the other end of his wand, withering in pain from the cruciatus curse with no hesitation.

Trying to push the anger that was simmering at his surface, he avoided looking at her all together as he stood up and straightened out his uniform.

"Goodnight, Fernsby." He spared her not a second more of his attention as he exited towards the boys dormitories.

Leila watched as he made his way towards the dorms. With the sudden anger that had risen from within him - he had managed to wrap it under control to the best of his ability, even if it meant exerting himself from the situation all together. She was satisfied with the reaction she'd gotten, she wondered what it would take to see more of it. The idea alone excited her, but rightly enough scared her. Would he really hurt her if given the chance to? Would he use an unforgivable? Was he even as bad as she was interpreting?

No, no, no. Stop. You cannot afford this Leila.

She scolded herself for letting her curiosity get the better of her. The only thing she should be concerned with right now was laying-low and trying not to be found, if this was going to work she couldn't be drawing such attention towards herself. She needed to get her shit together and control herself before she ended up getting herself killed.

Tom Riddle was fascinating, alluring and dangerous. But was he really worth the risk?

Of course fucking not. She scolded herself again.

He was an awful person, his views on things unsettled her and the way his eyes cut so deeply into her, she thought he could look into her soul and see it all. See her truths, see her lies. See her secrets..

It scared her.

If she was correct, they shared a mutual 'fascination' for one another. Which was dangerous, she knew that. Of course she did, she wasn't an idiot. She would be dammed if she ever let someone like him get in the way of everything she had worked so hard to get to.

No, she had to be careful. A lot more careful, especially around Riddle of all people.

Maybe avoiding him would make this easier, if she showed disinterest, no matter how tempting it was to cure her curiousness, by giving him none of her attention from this point onwards, she hoped he would get the point and just leave her alone.

Oh how she hoped he would just fuck off.

It would make this all so much more easier.

Huffing in aggravation, she pulled herself from the coach and a sudden wave of exhaustion settled into her.

She hadn't slept in almost three days, how she was still awake and conscious baffled her. She started classes tomorrow and realised she was going to be relying on all of the sleep she could muster during the next night. Although it was quite early, maybe around eight, nine at the latest, her body agreed with her brain and decided an early night would do her the world of good.

She quietly approached her own dorm room, uttering only a few words and good nights between the girls before her head finally hit her pillow and she completely blacked out from exhaustion.


	8. Lily of the Valley

In her old bedroom, Leila would wake with the sun, the blinding rays never allowed her eyes to stay closed for too long and the birds in the trees outside of her window would hum and whistle as an indication of the start of the day.

In her new bedroom, there was a devious lack of sunlight. The only light that managed to find its way in was diluted and gloomy, faded due to the the deepness of the lake.

Without the sun to wake her, she was lost in a deep, dreamless sleep. Her breathing shallow and her brunette curls sprawled around her face and across her pillow.

A pillow abruptly hitting her across the face jolted her awake, she reached for her wand only to find Cat standing there shocked on the other end of it. She held her hands either side of her head to show she meant no harm and studied Leila's sleepy face in confusion.

"Calm down, okay, I was just waking you to tell you were leaving for breakfast in an hour." She said assuringly, trying not to give Leila a reason to hex her.

"Sorry - you scared the shit out of me, Cat." She muttered embarrassingly as she lowered her wand and slipped out of bed.

Cat laughed lightly and shook her head, making her way over to Olive who's head was buried into a heap of pillows, groaning at the early start.

"It's too early and I am NOT a morning person - this is bullshit." Her whining muffled into her pillow.

"Yeah, well your not a day or night person either but you don't whine about that. Now if you don't get up, I will happily drag you out by your legs." Cat warned with her hands on her hips.

"Fine! I'm getting up! Happy?" Olive pulled her head from the pillows and forced herself up. She made her way for her dresser and Cat playfully smacked her behind- "Have a late night with Jacob did we?" She teased earning a blush from Olive.

Leila watched the girl pull her hair out of her face, and in an attempt hide her reddening cheeks as she turned away - heading for the bathroom.

Leila quickly dressed into the new uniform that Dumbledore had kindly provided for her. It consisted of a fitted black skirt that stopped at her knees, a white button up, a green Slytherin tie along with a grey cardigan and vest that both had green details on the necklines.

She liked how the shade of green was similar to her eyes.

Olive was now repeatedly and impatiently banging on the door to the washroom, "Aurellie what the bloody hell is taking you so long! Other people need to use the bathroom too you know!" She growled at the door.

The girl opened the door seconds later, her beautiful black curls tied into a ponytail with a deep green ribbon, her face pretty with subtle makeup, only to be ruined by the familiar scowl Leila had grown to loathe.

She eyed Olive up and down, taking in her messy hair and tired eyes."You look like shit."

"Such a kind soul, you are." Olive rolled her eyes and pushed past her with a yawn.

She slammed the door behind her, no doubt in despair to hide the love-bites that littered her neck and collarbones.

Leila was dressed, but torn between what to do with her hair. Cat caught her staring at a reflection in the mirror, pretty much reading her mind. "You have beautiful hair, I don't think you need to do much, it looks nice the way it is." She had only brushed through it, her hair falling into effortless soft curls, stopping no longer than her elbows.

Her hair was one of the only things she had ever been complimented on growing up. It was always thick, soft and never needed a lot of work done to make it look presentable.

Her mother used to say it was the only good thing to come out of her.

She nodded in agreement with Cat and decided to just leave it lose and natural. The circles under her eyes had seemed to fade slightly, not completely, but the long sleep she had finally rewarded herself with was like heaven. She didn't dream, have nightmares, no thoughts invaded her brain disturbing her. She simply just slept, peacefully and calmly until the early hours of the morning.

Taking Olives exit from the bathroom as her queue, she was looking a lot more fresh and neater than when she had entered. She grabbed her beauty bag and toothbrush and made her way for the door.

While she was thoroughly brushing her teeth, Cat entered holding a piece of parchment in her hand.

"What's that?" She asked through a mouth full of foam.

"Your timetable. We all found ours on the unit by the door, the house-elves must've dropped them off this morning while we were all still sleeping." She concluded as she looked over the piece of paper.

Leila rinsed her mouth quickly and moved to look over her shoulder at it, seeing the classes Dumbledore had signed her up to for the year ahead.

Astronomy. Defence against the Dark Arts. Potions. Care for Magical Creatures. Transfiguration. Charms. Study of Ancient Runes.

"We have Care for Magical Creatures together, potions and DADA - how wonderful!" Cat said excitedly.

Leila was familiar with the topics, but was quickly reminded of how awful it was to endure being taught them by her parents.

She was pleased, though. She enjoyed Astronomy and Potions, Ancient Runes also sounded interesting. Transfiguration and Charms was a given, not to boast but she was quite talented in both areas. Defence against the dark arts made her laugh slightly. Most of the 'practice duels' that occurred between her and her brothers during tutor hours, often turned into fully-fledged fights. More times than other ending in outbursts - resulting in Leila having her wand taken away as punishment because she beat both of their asses and they couldn't accept that fact.

"That's great Cat - I can't wait! It's weird to actually have a timetable and classes to attend, considering all of my lessons before were just in my home." She admitted with a nervous smile.

"Yeah I can imagine - Well, when we go to breakfast you can see what the boys are taking. Maybe if your lucky you'll have a few classes with some one them." She offered in an attempt comfort to Leila's sudden change in body language.

"Yeah, maybe." She turned back to getting ready.

"We're leaving in 15 minutes don't be too long in here, okay!" Cat shouted as she moved back into the dorm.

"Okay!"

Leila stared at her reflection. Her eyes green as ever, cheeks rosy from nerves and her lips pouty and full from biting them subconsciously when she would think about the day ahead.

She had butterflies, and felt slightly nauseous. She had come to realise that even though she was new, she wasn't new in the sense of a first year being new. They were all young strangers and felt the exact same, excited and nervous to make new friends at this new, brilliant school. Her situation was different - she was joining a year group who had known each other since they were 11- now they were all turning 17 and had their own relationships and friendships that she knew she wasn't going to be easily accepted into.

She supposed she was lucky, the group of people she met last night all welcomed her like an old friend, not treating her any different from the rest. She thought that maybe if she stayed close with them everything would work out just fine.

She ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm herself - distract her mind from its constant over thinking.

"Get a fucking grip of yourself woman." She said to her reflection before hurrying out of the bathroom to put her shoes and robe on.

————————————————————

Leila's choice of breakfast for the day was jam on toast - something she'd had almost every morning since she was a little girl. The four girls had only had their section of the table to themselves for around ten minutes before some of the boys eventually joined them. Rosier and Mulciber were the first to walk through the oak doors, Abraxas and Avery followed shortly after, in what seemed to be a light-hearted conversation.

While Cat, Olive and Aurellie had taken seats on the other side of the table, it left two spaces either side of her open. A smile rose on her lips when she felt Abraxas sit on her right, and a quick mood drop when Mulciber sat on her left. She really didn't have the patience for his questioning today.

So, ignoring his presence as best as she could, she tuned to Malfoy with her timetable in her hands to see if they would be sharing any classes throughout the year. He plucked it out of her fingertips and looked it over before cocking his head with an eyebrow raised.

"What?" She asked, confused by his mixed facial expressions.

A smirk reached his lips as he turned to look at her worried face. "Care for Magical Creatures? Who are you, Cat? Don't tell me her obsession had rubbed off on you already." He joked.

Relief settled into her quickly as she smacked his arm. "Hey! Don't be mean. I happen to find the topic quite interesting myself, actually."

"Yes, because chasing invisible animals around a forest sounds soo interesting." He rolled his eyes and sarcastically stretched the O in so.

"They're only invisible if your eyes haven't faced death or been emotionally effected by it, actually." Cat cut in defensively.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Newt Scamander." He shook his head and waved his hand at her. 

"It seems that we have Potions, Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts together. Lucky you." He said with a wink as he bit into a slice of heavily buttered toast.

"Oh yeah, lucky me." She snatched the slice out of his mouth and took a bite, not full enough from the slice she'd had earlier, and because she liked to annoy him.

"Is taking things from other people's mouths a habit of yours, Fernsby?" A familiar, loathsome voice sounded from across the table as the boy took a seat opposite - a little further down the bench.

Tom fucking Riddle.

Ignore him. You promised yourself.

"What's he talking about? You go round nicking peoples food as a habit do you?" Abraxas asked in puzzlement.

"Because in that case - I might just need a refund on my little proposal. I can't have you stealing my food become a common occurrence now, Leila." He said innocently.

"Ignore him. And we should get going, if I'm correct we have Charms first in 10 minutes." She asked him not really wanting an answer.

He nodded while he started to butter another slice. "Riddle you didn't happen to see Lestrange or Nott in the common room did you? If they don't get up soon they're gonna be late for their first bloody lesson of the year, idiots." The two boys were some of the laziest men he had ever met - both spent most of their weekends either asleep or drunk, most of the time asleep from being drunk.

"No, and making it on time to lessons is their own responsibility not yours." He said while taking a sip from his goblet.

"Of course." He huffed as he got up from his seat at the table.

He offered Leila his hand, "Come on love, we don't want to keep Professor Moroza waiting."

Leila immediately accepted, quickly straightening her skirt and fixing her hair as she wrapped her arm around his.

"I'll see you later Cat." She called back to her friend who nodded with her mouth full of food. She looked like a squirrel that'd stuffed it's cheeks with nuts and acorns.

Laughing at her friend, she turned back to Malfoy, throwing her bag over her shoulder as they exited the great hall.

—————-—————————————

Malfoy lead her through the halls, still with her arm hooked under his.

"You were incorrect." He said as they turned a corner.

"I find that hard to believe. I'm never incorrect."

"Then would you mind telling me why you tricked me into thinking we have Charms in 10 minutes when we really have it in 30?" He turned to her with raised eyebrows and a knowing glance.

Clearly the boy had caught on to her obvious attempt to exit that situation as quick as possible.

She thought briskly and the lie slipped out of her tongue without much thought. "I thought we could take our time walking. I don't know my way around here yet and I want to try pick up the routes as quickly as I can."

"Your sure it didn't have anything to do with Riddles comment?"

She shook her head instantly.

"What did he mean by it anyway, have you two spoken already?" He inquired.

"We had a conversation last night before bed. He has quite a unique personality, don't you think?"

He laughed. "Unique isn't quite the word that comes to mind when talking about Riddle, but I suppose it's fitting in some aspects, yes."

"What word comes to mind instead?"

They had stopped walking.

He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to find the words but failing.

"Intense."

"Intense?" She looked at him like he had two heads, but weirdly, she understood exactly what he meant.

"Yes. Now enough about him, we're almost there." He took a hold of her hand and dragged her down the remaining path of the corridor.

"Almost where?" She asked with furrowed brows.

"You'll see." He teased as he pushed her into some large doors that opened into a - bathroom?

She turned in every direction taking in the sight around her. A bathroom? What the hell was he doing bringing her here?

She spun around to face him with her arms crossed. "Why have you brought me here Abraxas?" 

He shrugged and walked past her to sit at a windowsill, the stained glass window illuminating the room in different shades of light.

She watched as he sat, and like Riddle the previous night, pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit one.

"This bathroom rarely gets used and is an alright smoking spot, I've found." He answered with a mouthful of smoke pouring from his lips.

Did all of these boys just light cigarettes wherever they pleased?

Leila shook her head as she began to approach him - when she was close enough she pushed herself up so she was sat beside him on the ledge. Both legs instantly moved upwards while she turned her body to face him. Quickly moving her legs around to rest them on his lap, she crossed them over each other while leaning her head back against the wall behind her.

They sat in silence for a few moments and out of the corner of his eye he caught her staring at the smoke that swirled around his figure as if she was longing for it to fill her lungs.

"You want one?" He asked as he held the box in his hands in an offering manner.

She knew she shouldn't, smoking was a terrible habit but seemed to be the only thing that could calm her when the world started testing her patience. She burned many cigarettes late at night after long days of arguing and fighting with the people she lived with, purely exhausted from the same days that repeated non-stop.

She pulled one from the packet and lit it. They smoked in a comfortable silence before Abraxas spoke again.

"It's normally Tom and I who smoke here together, believe it or not. It's empty most of the time, though every now and again there's this one girl that uses it to hide away and cry in the stalls, over what, only Merlin knows. She usually leaves as soon as she becomes aware of us in here with her, so at least we get to smoke in peace.

Plus - the other boys can't stand the smell of tobacco so this became our 'spot' in 5th year." He chuckled as he stared into space and reminisced on his previous years at the school.

"Why does she leave? Surely she'd be the one who stays, considering it's a girls lavatory."

He shrugged as he answered her calmly.

"She knows her place."

Leila eyed him warily, not really sure what he meant but let it slide over her head as another question arose. "And your spot? Why would you bring me here, then?"

"A change of partner every-now-and-then never hurt anybody." He smiled with another shrug.

"I'd like to think that having Riddle as your only option to smoke with would give you a reason to quit." She taunted.

He shook his head dismissively. "You just need patience with Riddle. He's really not that bad company if you know how to handle him." He sounded genuine as he defended the boy.

"And how does one 'handle' such an intense person like himself?"

He cocked his head slowly side to side as he contemplated his choice of words. "Just, avoid giving him a reason to be suspicious of you and you should be fine. If there's one thing I know about that boy - he always gets what he wants, wether that's information - a person or the truth - he will be the one to find out if your hiding something."

Her heart skipped a beat. This way bad - very bad. And also an ever bigger reason for her to avoid her waking problem that took the form of a 6"2, dark haired, dangerous but fascinating boy.

Needing to excuse herself from the situation again, the sudden chill that had began to creep up her spine made her feel uneasy as she attempted to turn the boys attention elsewhere.

"Alright then - we should go before we really are late." She pushed herself from the ledge, stumbling when she lost her balance, thanks to her heels.

"Someone's eager." He teased as he jumped down himself.

"To be honest I just want to get this day over with as soon as possible. The butterflies I've had all morning are starting to drive me insane."

"Don't worry your little head, you'll be fine." He rubbed his hand on the top of her head in an attempt to mess up her hair.

"Abraxas!" She pushed him as they walked back into the halls and she tried to take her hair back to its original placement.

Their laughter echoed around them as they made their way to Charms. It only coming to a halt when they were forced to suppress it, due to finally entering the classroom.

When they entered, Leila was met with two rows of benches and tables either side of the room, the second slightly raised for a better view of the class. A huge window filled up the wall at the back of the room, illuminating it in the light that the dungeons seemed to lack.

He lead her over to the right side of the class, ushering her to take a seat next to him on the front row out of the two, why he chose to sit there she had no idea.

There were only a few students in there since they were early, 3 Hufflepuffs and 5 Ravenclaws. Her and Abraxas jumped into a conversation about his first ever charms class and how he was the first of the group to make his feather levitate.

More students started to file in as breakfast came to a end, she noticed that she also had the class with Olive, Jacob and Ambrose.

Obviously, Olive and Avery took back seats next to each other, the reason for that Leila didn't even want to begin to imagine, and Nott took the seat to her left, joining in on there conversation.

Most of the class had settled after the few late students ran in apologetically, only to find their Professor hadn't arrived yet.

They waited another 5-10 minutes and were met with no one.

"This Professor Moroza is quite the punctual lady isn't she?" Leila added as the class began to grow restless.

"I don't think she's ever been on time to one of her lessons in the 30 years she's taught here." Nott announced.

Soon enough, the doors of the class were flung open and a very short lady dragged herself through the door - arriving to the lesson she was meant to start teaching 20 minutes ago.

The lady had wild red hair, the restless curls straggled to her hips in all different directions, and bright red lipstick to match the vibrancy of it.

Her garments were all black, layered with various different skirts over a corseted dress and her chest area was engulfed in what seemed to be hundreds of beaded necklaces.

She looked a mess.

She wore black laced gloves and odd shoes, one heel black and the other green, though still the same design. Her eyes seemed to be thick was black eye-makeup, under a pair of winged cat eye glasses.

"Sorry am late." She said not so sincerely as she floated over to her desk taking an abrupt plop on her ugly patterned chair. Her accent was a thick Derry kind, her words slurred slightly - was she drunk or newly hungover?

Leila turned to look at Abraxas who was hiding a laugh behind his hands at Leilas outraged reaction.

"Does she always look like she's just walked straight from a pub and directly into her classroom?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Nott chuckled as the three eyed over the weird woman.

The red-head huffed in annoyance when she realised she actually had a class to teach.

She stood from the chair and walked over to her chalk board where she scratched 'engorgio'.

"Okay. Who can tell me what this charm is used to do?" She shouted.

She class simply stared at her as they all tried their best to hide their disapproving looks and smirks at her attitude.

"No one?" She threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. "For the love of Merlin! Fine!"

"You, young lady." She stalked towards a timid girl with short blond hair who was in Hufflepuff robes - pointing her finger a lot closer to her face than necessary.

The girl let out a sigh and swallowed. "The Engorgament charm, also known as the growing charm, is a charm that causes the target or an object to swell immensely."

"Correct - 10 points to Hufflepuff! Now, who can te-"

She was suddenly cut off when the doors swung open. "I apologise for my lateness Professor, there were some first year students that needed my help finding their classes."

The woman stared at the boy for a second, quietly nodding with a gulp before she answered. "No problem dear, do take a seat." Her voiced seemed to tremble slightly at the sight of Tom Riddle entering her classroom late.

Leila quietly scoffed at the woman's weakness.

He made his way over to the side of the room she sat at, turning only to take the last seat that remained in the room. The seat that just so happened to be directly behind Abraxas.

She turned her head away so he couldn't see the eye roll she indulged in.

That boy was everywhere.

"Okay. I want you to partner up and begin researching. I also want you to find out the charm that is used to do the opposite, 2 rolls of parchment each, on my desk this lesson in a weeks time. Extra points awarded if you can prove to cast either of the charms to me." She lazily announced to the class as she walked back behind her desk and slouched into the chair once again.

The glass groaned at the homework they'd already been burdened with but entered harmless chattering as they noticed the Professor beginning to fall asleep at her desk.

"What a lousy excuse for a teacher, all classes aren't like this I hope?" Leila turned to Abraxas disappointed.

"Of course not. Why they've even kept her here for so long baffles me, it's not like anyone really learns anything in her lessons."

"Trust me, you'll have better experiences in your other classes, what is it you have next?"

"Care for Magical Creatures." She said proudly as she watched his eyes roll.

"Watch this." Nott cut in as he whispered into her ear.

She turned and watched as he held his wand under the table and began to mutter an inaudible spell.

Leila watched as professor Morozas' long, straggly hair began to morph into what looked like - snakes?

"Ambrose what the hell are you playing at! If she wakes up she'll have a fucking heart attack!" She stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't panic darling. What she don't know can't hurt her." He chuckled.

The rest of the class seemed to erupt into laughter and cheers at the sight in front of them, a few prefects in the class trying to calm everyone down so they wouldn't draw attention to the class.

What an idiot. If he got caught he would surely be expelled?

She shook her head and drew her wand, making the snakes fall limp and morph back into red locks of hair.

"What did you do that for?!" He groaned.

"If she woke to find her hair had been replaced with snakes, she would be frantic and start to panic - which would just provoke the snakes even more! I don't know if you realised Nott but the snakes you chose were Bungarus Caeruleus' - they're highly venomous. Now I'm no expert, but I think her screaming in terror would be enough to frighten them into attack her. Then you would be in trouble for killing a professor, so I think you owe me a thank you." She bit at him.

"Oh. Right." Is all the boy could muster.

Abraxas let out a barking laugh.

"What are you laughing at now?" She turned to him.

"Nothing, mum." He goaded.

The remainder of the lesson went by quickly, before she even realised, students began exiting the room in search of their next classes.

Abraxas and Nott had left together since they both had Herbology. How the boy he had the cheek to tease her about her choice of subjectwhen he was studying plants made her laugh to herself.

She'd barely made it out of the class when a firm hand gripped onto her shoulder and turned her around to face them.

Leila stood taken back at the sudden contact and closeness of him. The touch of his hand that still lingered on her shoulder even after he dropped it.

His scent was fresh and zesty, but also manly and boyish, and the faint scent of tobacco lingered in the air. She couldn't tell if it was coming from her or him.

She was about to speak when he held up a book in his grip, a book she was currently reading.

"You left this behind." He turned the front cover to read it.

"Jane Austen. Is this a muggle author?" He refocused his attention back to her.

"Yes, she's a brilliant novelist." She said softly.

He took her spare hand and placed the book in her grasp.

"Thank you."

He simply retuned it with a nod.

Since he clearly wasn't planning on saying anything else, she turned to leave. She was supposed to be meeting Cat in the courtyard before their next class.

She then realised he had stayed close as they walked down the corridor, keeping his strides slower to match the pace she was walking at.

"What's it about?" He inquired.

Trust, he needed her trust. Would he get that by approaching her in a more friendly manner rather than a seductive way? He'd concluded she wasn't interested in sense after the way she had reacted last night to his attempts of caressing her.

She smiled, she loved to talk about things that interested her and she was passionate about.

Even if it was to Tom Riddle.

"If you mean the book. Well, it's called Pride and Prejudice, so take that as you will. It's based around the Regency era, where marriages were seen more as business proposals rather than acts of love. It focuses on a family in which the Mother is desperate to marry of her five daughters. It makes you realise just how easily driven people can get when the proposals involved money and power as an offering. What they would do to make their way up in society, it seems they would stop at the cost of nothing, not even love."

"Sounds ridiculous." He answered sarcastically.

"It sounds awfully similar to the way the Wizarding Societies are currently being progressed, so yes, quite ridiculous." She scoffed.

"Meaning?"

"Purebloods are like the Upperclass of this book in a way, Half-bloods are the lower class and Muggle-borns are like the commoners."

The look he was giving her made her want to punch his stupid face.

She huffed in irritation as she continued.

"In that time period, it was looked down upon, even considered a disgrace for an Upperclass man or woman to marry someone below them in society. It was expected of them to stay within their class, in a way to keep the societies separated. That was something they were obsessed with keeping, a divide."

"Which is then a parallel to the way things are separated by prejudices in our world. It's seen as a disgrace for a Pureblood to even engage in an conversation with a Half-blood, let alone a Muggle-born. But in the end, who is it that decides who goes where? Who chooses wether a child is going to be born into a Pureblood family or a Muggle family. Because in the end we're all the same, humans. And if fate is what contradicts wether were treated as elites or scum, how is that ever going to be fair?" Her voice grew slightly louder in irritation, she was clearly passionate about the topic.

"No need to shout so loud that the Quidditch field will hear about it, Fernsby." He smirked.

They fell into a silence as she approached nearer to the courtyard, Tom following her the entire time without realising.

His next lesson was on the opposite side of the castle.

How could he joke over such a serious topic? She wasn't even aware of his blood status, not that it mattered to her anyway, but the way he laughed and dismissed her ranting irked her into thinking he was most likely a Pureblood.

However, being one herself, she couldn't recall ever coming across his last name.

"Riddle, what's-"

She was cut off when Cat came into her view, an annoyed look imprinted into her face.

"Where the bloody hell have you been? We're going to be late." She exclaimed with a huff.

"Sorry, I um- got distracted." She answered as Cat looped her arms into hers, dragging her away.

She spared a quick glance back to find him gone from the entrance to the courtyard.

———————————————————

As Toms strides became longer in an attempt to get to his next class, his thoughts were wavering and unorganised.

Everything she had just said - she had a point - but he would never let her know he thought that.

Tom himself was born under harsh circumstances. His mother a Witch, his Father a Muggle. It seemed to be the same story of any other half-blood within the school, two parents falling in love, no matter their blood purity and having a child. Toms situation however, was a lot more complicated, and even more tragic. His mother was a weak, pathetic woman who fell in love with a bastard of a man, a man who refused to love her back. Out of an act of desperation, she drugged him with a love potion, and fell pregnant with Tom as a result.

If not familiar with the affects of Amortentia, it could be deadly - proven by the stupidity of his own Mother.

A child conceived under Amortentia is incapable of love.

In a way it was a curse, but also a blessing, that's how he chose to see it anyway. If he was incapable of love, there would never be anything holding him back for the life he strived for. There would be nothing - no one in the way. He would have no attachments. No one could ever be used against him as a weakness because that opportunity and ability - he was completely robbed of it.

When he discovered this, he mulled over it. He couldn't comprehend what it was he lacked. How could he recognise a feeling he'd never felt - he hadn't even experienced the emotion from someone else. No one ever cared enough. There was never anyone around who was willing to expose him to the feeling. If exposed - you can learn it.

Year after year in the orphanage, it would be the same shit, different day. The same insufferable children, the same little boys and girls who would weep over Mother's they had never even met in most cases. He didn't understand it. He didn't want to understand it. Why would anyone ever wish the pain and heartbreak that is the result of love?

His breathes had become short, they burned from the rate he was drawing air into his chest.

Is this what was going to happen every time his beliefs were questioned in a way he had no control of defending them?

It had been a long time since he'd ever met someone who actually made him rethink his choices and decisions.

It had been a long time since their point had managed to out-weigh his.

The last time was no one other than the famous Albus Dumbledore. The way Tom loathed the man was undeniable, simply because he had outsmarted him.

Tom realised how he was naive as a child. Blinded by the words that were embedded into him since he was young. It was hard to fathom the possibility of a different reality to the one had grown to know in his fist 11 years of living. Magic was not real. Magic was impossible, a tale told to children to send them to sleep when they were restless. Magic was a safety net for almost everything. Anything that couldn't be explained by science became a product of magic. Someone who had abilities that weren't common were thought to be Psychic or a witch. In history, Women were burned at the stake for being different, even if they didn't actually posses any magical abilities.

Tom was different. A fact he was reminded of everyday by the people around him. Wether it was the older children in the orphanage or the adults - or even Mrs Cole. He was seen as a freak, abnormal because of the power he had inside of him.

He was convinced it was bad, a curse, something that should be feared. That he was something that should be feared.

And he believed them.

As much as he tried to control it he couldn't. It didn't want to be tamed, and without knowing it at the time, he never should have tried to do so in the first place.

The more you try to take a lion, the more murderous and hungry for revenge it will be when it's finally freed.

Tom was the lion. The life before him was the cage he was constantly restricted in. The people around him constantly trying to control him is what made him all the more powerful -he thought.

It was as if the years he had spent bottling it up made it all the more potent. All the more deadly.

The day he had met Albus Dumbledore in his bedroom was the day he finally lit the dammed cage on fire - quite literally as he did the cupboard.

Dumbledore was good at reading people, he always had been and always would. Meeting Tom Riddle marked him, he was unaware of this at the time, of course, but from that moment on he was completely blind to the fact that he had just introduced the world of magic to a soon to be Dark Lord - who would initiate chaos and fear into the entire Wizarding World.

The words shared between the two that day set off a warning inside of his head. I can make them hurt. From that moment forward he kept his eyes on him, from a safe distance.

This was something Tom was quite aware of, but could do nothing about.

He was the first person to ever openly challenge the way that Tom viewed the world.

The second being a 5"5 brunette, who's eyes gleamed with mystery and wonder. And a thirst for knowledge and a way of thinking that was, so similar but different to his own.


	9. Innuendo

After her encounter with Tom, Cat had practically begun running down the hills towards the dark forest, Leila at her feet behind her, struggling and trying not to slip on the steep hills.

Both were sprinting, weaving through the trees in an attempt to find the rest of the class. They had no time to walk, as the Professor would undoubtedly be annoyed at their lateness.

As they got deeper in, Leila kept tripping on logs and twigs, Cat also falling a few times on her face after colliding with branches that she 'didn't see there'.

After a few minutes, they spotted the class a few feet away, they both shared glances before approaching, awaiting an earful for being late on their first day.

The Professor was a lump of a man, short and plump with frizzy white hair. His cheeks glowed rosy red, as well as his hugs nose.

Since he was obviously shorter than the rest of the classes students, he didn't see the two rough looking girls approaching as they tried to be as discreet as possible.

Cat had spotted Julian, who's face contorted of confusion and amusement as he looked over both of them. He spared a quick glance back at the Professor before approaching with a wide grin.

"Get attacked by a hag on your way here did you?" He said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned his back onto a tree.

"You're hilarious. How late are we?" Cat asked as she tried to smooth out her curls and clear the mud from her robes.

Leila did the same as she took in the groups that the class was made up of. She recognised some students from her Charms class, some from the Slytherin table and the girl that Abraxas took had taken an apparent liking to was also there.

"Fifteen minutes. What took you so long? It's not that far a walk." He quizzed.

"While I was waiting in the courtyard where me and Leila had agreed to meet, she was busy talking to Riddle. So, I stood there like an idiot until I could drag her from him and made her run down here with me."

"Yes, because the running part was completely necessary - and we were already late so we might as well have taken our time." Leila said sarcastically as she tried to get a grip of her breathing.

"What were you talking to Riddle about anyways? I can get a conversation out of anyone, but he is impossible." Cat asked curiously.

Leila shrugged. "A book, though it was mostly me who did the talking, he just listened and added snarky comments whenever he felt the need to."

The pair nodded and they made their way closer to the front for a better view and to hear the mans voice clearer.

As the sight that was presented to the class became clearer, a striking white presence invaded Leila's eyesight and her eyes widened in wonder and elation.

Standing next to Professor Kettleburn was a Unicorn.

An actual fucking Unicorn.

Leila never thought that in her lifetime she would ever have the chance of seeing one, let alone have the privilege to study one up close. The creatures had caught her attention at a young age and she fascinated over them, reading every book in the Library that could offer her information on the beautiful creature.

It's pearly white coat glinted in the late summer sunlight, giving off an ethereal glow and it's presence alone was enough to make her breathe catch in her throat.

"Holy shit. It's beautiful." She brought her hand to cover her mouth as she gasped.

"10 House points to anyone who can give me a detailed description on the blood of a Unicorn." He shouted half-heartedly with a very thick Bristol accent.

Cats hand shot up immediately, as did Rosier's.

"Rosier." The man nodded to him.

"Actually sir, I think I'll let Cat have this one." He started at her grinning, "Go on, love." He winked and she blushed.

She swallowed and tried to get her wits before proceeding.

"The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenceless to save yourself, you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment it's blood touches your lips." She sounded so passionate when speaking it was admirable - and the way that Julian looked at her made her heart warm.

"Excellent Miss Galesby! 10 points to Slytherin!"

At the end of the lesson, students were urged to get into groups of 4 to complete a full analysis of the creature and have 2 full rolls of parchment between them by Friday.

Since Cat, Julian and Leila only made a three, an idea quickly sprung into her head. "I'm think I'm going to ask Cecilia Harroway if she wants to work with us." Leila said as they began their much slower-paced walk back to the castle.

"That's the girl Malfoy fancies isn't it?" Cat asked as she pushed a branch out of her face, hitting Leila as it fell back. "Bitch! And yes, it will be a good chance for us to talk to her and find out what she's like since Brax refuses to do it himself."

Cat laughed and Julian draped an arm over her shoulder, she took that as her cue to turn her attention elsewhere.

She spotted Cecilia waking with another Ravenclaw girl, one of the red-headed twins she was sitting with at the feast the previous night.

Leila slowed her own pace so that the girl would grow closer in her own foot-steps, making her stop and look at her.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, I'm Leila Fernsby." She held out a hand with a warm smile which the girl seemed to take gracefully. "I'm Cecilia Harroway, it's nice to meet you too. Your the new girl aren't you? I recognise you from the scene Dippet caused last night at dinner." Cecilia tried to hide the grin that she so badly wanted to show as Leila shook her head in embarrassment. "Please don't bring that up again, it was humiliating." The other girls laughed as they begin walking again.

She knew it was a bit forward to ask since she was a stranger, and they barely knew one another, but she remembered how worked up Abraxas seemed to be over the girl, so she pushed the doubt aside. "Would you like to work with Julian, Cat and I on the project? If you haven't already agreed to with someone else, of course." She asked cautiously, though couldn't understand why anyone in their right mind would pass on a grade as easy as this - especially with the help of Cat and Julian who were clearly tops of the class.

The girl thought for a moment before nodding. "Sure, I don't see why not." Leila felt relieved at her answer. "Amazing, I'll go let them know and we can discuss a day to meet." They waved goodbye to each other before Leila tried to catch up with the couple who were now well ahead of her and practically at the opening of the wood.

———————————————————-

Leila sat in the potions classroom surrounded by cauldrons and frantic teens. The Professor was yet to arrive, although he wasn't late, she was simply early.

She had made her way to the classroom in a close discussion with Ambrose and Morpheus. They were telling her about the time they had brewed polyjuice potion in 5th year and turned into each other for the day, confusing the hell out of their peers as well as their teachers.

She burst out laughing when Lestrange re-enacted the scene that happened between him and Notts Professor - when the poor man realised it wasn't actually him.

The rest of their group seemed to catch up quickly, apparently they all shared potions as a common class.

Once all of the students had settled and taken their seats, a friendly, jittery man began to speak, she wasn't blind to how his eyes would always land on Tom, as if he was seeking validation on the way he discussed things.

It was a very strange thing to watch.

This seemed to be the case with a lot of the school, students as well as teachers, she noticed. They all respected him and admired Tom, though what he had done to earn such a thing was beyond her. There was always a moment, a flicker in their eyes whenever they approached him or engaged in a conversation with him. Their eyes always seemed to be screaming the same things - females always looked at him like an object, she noted. They never seemed to listen to anything he said they just watched from afar in fascination, their eyes glinting with want and lust.

As for men, she picked up on the way they would stare daggers into his back when he was turned away. The only thing she could see behind the variety of shades was always an aspect of envy, jealously but a common one she would come across with anyone - was fear.

Even though it was brief, it was always there, even just a flicker for a second she caught it.

What could they possibly be so cautious of?

When it came to Professors within the school, it was almost as if their authority drained from them whenever faced with the boy. They looked at him like he was above them - as if he was the adult and they were the children.

She seen it in all of them except for one man.

Dumbledore.

Leila couldn't wrap her head around it, why was everyone so quick so crumble? Why did no one challenge him or even try to stand up for themselves?

She hadn't realised she was staring at him until his eyes caught hers and she froze. Shit. She looked away trying to seem as unfazed as possible, but from the corner of her eyes she watched as his lip slightly quirked up at the corner and his eyes rolled.

The table sat four, she sat with Cat on her left, Tom and Abraxas had taken the seats opposite, Riddle directly in front of her. To be able to see her clearly he simply had to peer over the cauldrons that seemed to be separating them.

"Now, I want to prepare you before we dive in. Over the course of the next few terms, we will be touching on many different varieties and areas of potion making. At the end of this year before Christmas, I will expect a full summary of every topic we touch on over the course of these next few months.

Now with that being said, I want you to partner up, be smart with who you chose as you will be stuck with them for the next 4 months! I won't want to be hearing any nonsense in a weeks time about changing - this would over complicate things as your final grades will be decided with a percentage from each of you.

This is to ensure that no one is lacking and urges everyone to participate." He chimed with a clap of his hands.

Tom and Abraxas nodded in agreement at their paring, as did Cat and Leila. Everyone seemed content with who they were to complete the assignments with as their was no objections on the matter.

After a few minutes of small talk between the students, the Professor made his way over to their table.

"Ah Tom! How lovely to see you, a good summer? I hope, yes very good. And Mr Malfoy how wonderful, and Miss Galesby always a delight." He gave a curt nod to Abraxas and Cat, but went the extra mile in greeting Tom when he patted him on the back with a laugh. She noticed how he clenched his jaw in a urge not to roll his eyes at his infuriating teacher.

"And you my dear, I don't think I recognise you. Your name?" His eyes were friendly but quite frantic, he looked a bit disheveled and unorganised, one might say.

"'I'm a recent transfer student so I wouldn't expect you to, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Leila Fernsby. " She smiled softly which he seemed to be quite happy with returning.

"Professor Slughorn." He introduced himself with a wave of his hand over his body - clearly trying to indicate he'd meant himself.

Obviously you did, who else would you motion to? She narrowed her eyes at the strange man.

"Who is it you've chosen to partner up with, might I ask?" He leaned in slightly.

Surely it was quite obvious...she was sitting right next to Cat.

"Me and Leila are partners Professor, is that alright?" Cat asked, noticing the shift in his behaviour.

"Yes of course, of course, though as you are new, I would advise you to maybe chose someone with a bit more...experience...that can help you catch up on all of the work you've missed."

Cat scoffed at his backhanded comment but Leila looked at him confused, what was he implying?

"Tom, perhaps?" He moved to face Riddle who hadn't seemed to be paying attention, though his gaze lifted when he heard his name.

Leila immediately took a dislike to the man. What on earth was he doing? Surely cat couldn't be that awful at brewing? Why did he have to change her paring but no one else's in the room?

She but her lip as she tried to calm herself.

"Sir?" He furrowed his brows.

"If it's not too much to ask, I know you've already seemed to be paired with Mr Malfoy here, but being the skilled student you are I think your talents could be used elsewhere to help out those in need. Don't you agree?"

Those in need?

Was this man serious?

Leila let out an audible scoff at his blatant rudeness and underlying sexist remark.

"I am quite capable of brewing potions myself thank you, and do I look like I'm that desperate for help?" She snapped at the man.

Clearly he was taken back by her sharp defence, his mouth hanging slightly open as he looked between Leila and the others on their table.

"I will not waste my knowledge somewhere it is not wanted, sir." He raised a brow at the look she was giving him, fighting the urge to smirk at her outburst.

"Nevertheless, Miss Fernsby, you two are to be paired. That it my final decision, you may not appreciate my attempts now but I know it will benefit you in the long run, dear." He moved to tap her head like she was a little child but she caught his hand before it could come into contact with her soft curls.

"Of course, Professor ." She forced out with a smile - letting his hand fall from her grip while wearing a look of displease on her face.

She watched him as he simply shrugged at her and walked off, probably to taunt more of his students.

When she looked away from his hunched figure she seen that Cat was studying her with wide eyes as she tried to bite back a smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?

"No reason." She shook her head and waved in front of Abraxas' face to get his attention.

"I'll take you as her replacement then?" She asked him.

The blonde looked at Tom with a raised brow in question as if he was asking permission, which Tom reluctantly granted with a faint incline of his head.

"Alright." He grabbed his things from his desk and moved over to where Leila was standing, her legs and arms crossed over one another as she leaned into the table.

He stood in front of her but she avoided his eyes in a petty way.

He took his hand and lightly tapped her cheek to face him.

The grin he was suppressing began to ache his cheeks, "Come on love, don't be petty." This caused her head to finally face him, she was biting her lip. He motioned for her to move which she had to drag her body to do so.

"Shut up. I'm not petty." She stared at him in annoyance but he ignored her as he took his seat.

"Please, take your seats quickly and we can begin our first topic of the term."

She strode over to where Abraxas had just been sitting, setting her things down quietly before placing her head in her hands in frustration.

"Since the remainder of this lesson isn't long enough, we will not be brewing today. However, we can begin discussing ideas and thoughts on the matter as a preparation for tomorrow."

He got a few questioning glances from students as they tried to guess the first part of their course. It really could be anything - though the words that slipped from his mouth next caught her completely of guard - and apparently Tom too as both of their attention immediately snapped towards the man.

"Who can give me a brief description of the love potion known as Amortentia." He looked around the classroom at the blushes the word had caused. It was the same reactions he had grown familiar with in his years of teaching young adults. While the girls would flutter their lashes and seek out their lovers in the room, the boys would try their best to remain composed and unbothered but most of the time the blood rushing to their cheeks would betray them.

A Gryffindor girl raised her hand with a smug smile on her face.

"Ah, Miss Darlene, if you please."

The girl licked her lips slightly as her cheeks began to redden, her eyes fixated on another boy in Gryffindor robes across the room, who was sending her a cheeky smirk.

"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from the potion in spirals. Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them."

Leila let out an audible laugh, attracting the attention of everyone in the room who looked at her curiously.

"What are you laughing at?" The girl who had given the definition snapped at her for her interruption.

She looked around the room to notice all of the stares she was getting, most of them confused but some look slightly annoyed at her.

"Yes, do tell us Miss Fernsby, what is it you find so amusing." Slughorn added.

She bit her lip consciously as she tried to think of the right way to put it.

"Well for starters, calling it a love potion is laughable."

"It's practically a rape drug - the person under its influence is not in the state of mind for their consent to be valid, due to the whole point of the potion being to attract them. Any acts or situations that person lands themselves in while under its effects couldn't be done completely willingly. Without it, the person under its influence could have no physical or emotional attraction to the other person in anyway, but the potion would overwhelm those thoughts and blind them with what you idiots define as love. It's not love, it's fake. And it's dangerous, probably one of the most dangerous potions in existence and here we are discussing how we're going to brew it in a classroom. It's utterly insane."

The whole room fell silent as she drew in a breathe, Cats eyes were wide in disbelief but looked at her like she had gone mad.

"Alright Miss Fernsby, I think we've heard-"

"I'm not finished." She halted his sentence as she continued.

"A person could be repeatedly dosed with the potion for years, with no knowledge what so ever. By the time their free if it's effects, for example a woman. She could've given birth to 4 children and find out she's married to a complete stranger, simply because he continued drugging her with it. Tell me Professor, how the hell is that fair? How is it that she should be burdened with a life she never consented for in the fist place and is then expected to act like it was nothing just because it was a 'love potion'? The logic behind it is completely mental."

"Alright I must ask you to leave the classroom Miss Fernsby, you will serve a detention for this behaviour but I will not tolerate it any longer as a distraction." He sounded angry. Why? What she had said was completely reasonable and justifiable.

She glared at the man before she started to collect all of her belongings and stuffed them into her bag. "I'll see you at lunch." She said quietly to Cat as she existed the room, every pair of eyes burning into her back as she walked out completely unfazed.

Since lunch didn't start for at least another hour, she made an attempt to seek out the Library. The only dilemma was that she didn't know where in the castle it was or how she was supposed to find it.

Leila followed the students that wondered the corridors, aimlessly trying to find somewhere she could seek peace and alone time. Trying to find the Library was a fruitless attempt, she realised she was going to have to ask one of the boys or Cat to show it to her, the castle was much too big to risk getting lost in.

Soon enough she ended up on the fist floor, the archways and windows giving her a clear view of the gardens. They were organised similarly to the ones at her old manor, vegetable patches and fruit trees on one side, on the other were ranges of different flower bushes and flower beds.

She approached them immediately, the stress in her body evaporated as she sunk to the ground, surrounded by wild flowers and thick grass.

The grass was soft against her skin, and the flowers tickled her bare legs as she stretched them out before her and leant back on her elbows to admire the blue skies above.

The clouds were fluffy and elegant, the warm sun peaking out behind them every so often blinding her eyes - but also making them glow in fluorescence.

Leila allowed herself to drown in the sounds of the beautiful gardens, the birds chirping and the breeze making the trees sway, the sound of a nearby fountain made her lose herself in tranquility.

Her deep curls blew in the soft winds, brushing against her face and caressing her cheeks. She could get lost in this. Sweet scents lingered in the air from the many flowers she was surrounded by, pretty daffodils, orchids and bluebells. Her favourite scent had carried itself to her from the nearby rose bushes that fenced the area.

She grabbed a small book from her bag and some pencils, sketching and drawing flowers and nature was one of her favourite pass times.

She started with the Marigolds, their vibrant yellow and orange tones had caught her eye when deciding which to start on first.

Leila spent most of her hour there, only stopping when her neck started aching due to craning her neck over the book. With no indication of the time, she assumed she had missed the start of lunch so decided she should leave for the great hall.

———————————————————-

As Leila approached the Slytherin table in search of the girls, she did her best to ignore the stares she was getting, most from her classmates that watched her scene in Potions.

"Fucking hell Leila. What's got your knickers in a twist today?" Olive asked when she took a seat, Leila noticing how she had addressed her by her first name but not letting it show on her face. "He asked what I was laughing at and I told him, it's not my fault he didn't like my answer." She shrugged as she started buttering a roll. "It was fucking hilarious! The look on the mans face was priceless." The blonde shook her head with a light laugh.

"Well I'm glad someone thinks so, everyone else looked at me like I had just killed their Mothers."

"Yeah, especially Riddle, he looked like he wanted to curse you." Cat said, though Leila couldn't tell if she was exaggerating or not.

"Was what I said really so controversial?" She tried to laugh it off but couldn't help but feel like she crossed a line.

"Riddle looks at everyone as if he wants to curse them. And don't worry about it, everyone will have forgotten it by tomorrow." Olive reassured as she caught sight of Avery.

She watched as the girls eyes lit up when she looked at him, but quickly darkened when he made a point to completely ignore her.

Jacob and Sage took their seats a few feet down from them, not bothering to look over as they started to eat. It seemed they were going out of their way to avoid them since their eyes never once moved to look in their direction.

"Are you all going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Leila asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course, everyone goes to Hogsmeade at weekends, it's the only decent thing to do around here." Olive added.

Why Olive had started talking to Leila as if they were friends confused her. Not only did she go out of her way to be rude, but she also pretended she hadn't existed until today. She knew she should still be cautious at her sudden change in attitude but also hoped that it wasn't personal - and the girl was just wary of new people until she'd decided wether she liked them or not.

Leila realised that the her trust issues most likely stemmed from none other than the boy who sat a few feet down the table from her. Trusting new people must be hard for her, especially when she was getting beaten down again and again hopelessly. Leila supposed they were similar in that aspect, everyone has their own defence mechanisms and Olives was clearly coldness.

She shyly observed as the rest of the boys made an effort to join them, weirdly they all seemed to be avoiding the girls too. Save for Abraxas who snuck a quick glance her way with a re-assuring smile and a slight shake of his head, as if to say, don't question it.

What she also found odd was that every one of the boys had attended lunch, except for Tom.


	10. Sheer heart attack

  
Ancient Runes went by painfully slow and happened to be one of the most boring lessons of the day. With a brief introduction to the class and a fair amount of homework set already, Leila felt exhaustion creeping on her as her last class of the day came to an end.

When Leila had first realised that none of her friends were taking Ancient Runes with her, she was disappointed to say the least. She spent a while contemplating wether it was a good thing of not, she would have the opportunity to make more friends and get in good graces with her peers, but also have the chance to focus on the work with no distractions...that was the thought that kept her going until her eyes suddenly met with some familiar fiery, red locks that she had barely seen all day.

A genuine smile found itself on her face quickly as she caught eyes with him. "Alfie? I was wondering if we were going to be sharing any classes together." She said excitedly in greeting as he came to sit with her at the back table. "Are you saying I've been on your mind? Because if so, know that I'm truly flattered." He joked as a sly grin appeared - but she just rolled her eyes. "Heverly! Get your arse over here!" He called to a boy who had just stumbled through the door.

The boys eyes navigated to where the voice had come from with confusion, then softened when he spotted his best-friend.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything love-birds." He said with a wink and a smirk as he looked between the two of them, Alfie looking mortified and Leila staring at him as he avoided her eyes. "Love-birds?" She said expectantly as she watched Alfie send a death glare to his friend.

"Nothing darling, don't worry about me - actually no, let's worry about me for a second, I'm Leon Heverly, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He leant over the table to shake her hand in amusement as he wallowed in Alfie's embarrassment. "Leila Fernsby." She retorted humorously.

Leon seemed kind - a typical teenage boy if she had to put a label on him. Almost anything that came out of his mouth was flirty and his daunting smirk rarely left his face. She was surprised at the fact that he was a Ravenclaw, apart from Abraxas and Cecilia, she hadn't seen Slytherins take any interest in students from the other houses. Though when they did, they seemed to stray no further than the blue coloured house, making their dislike for the others obvious whenever given the chance.

He and Alfie seemed inseparable, she noticed how similar their bond was to that of Morpheus and Ambroses. They seemed to have similar personalities and ultimately made a good paring. It was also refreshing to speak with new people who had different ways of seeing things; compared to those she had been spending most of her time with. Although they were friendly and fun to be around, their vibes were all quite dark and mysterious. Alfie and Leon spoke their minds and made intentions obvious, rarely leaving you doubtful on their behalf's . They were a breathe of fresh air and she decided it would be wise to balance her time between them and the others.

"So, what do you think of the castle so far?" Leon asked as they began the work set for the hour. She pondered over the question for a second before lightly shrugging. "Well, I haven't really seen it all yet. The only parts I've been to are the great hall, the common room and the classrooms I've had to attend today." She caught as the boys shared a quick glance. "Anywhere in particular you'd like to see first?" Alfie said as the thought popped into her head.

"Yes actually. I'm desperate to find the library, I tried looking for it yesterday but it was useless."

Leila observed as he nodded in thought. "I need to go there after class anyway, you can come along with me if you'd like." Leon offered and she quickly accepted before the Professor threatened them with a detention for lack of work.

"The kitchens are a must see too, I'll take you there sometime, you'll love it." Alfie whispered while eyeing the woman who had her back turned as she wrote on the chalk board.

"Okay, but I'll hold you to it." She laughed at the strange proposal.

<<<<<>>>>>>

The way Leila had spoken her mind and offered her opinion without a care in the world was quite admirable - Tom thought. After all, she was new, and as much as he hated to admit it - watching her talk to Slughorn in such a way was quite the amusing addition to his day so far.

This was until she started using examples to support her ideology - in which the potion could be used carelessly on an unsuspecting victim.

Although she only mentioned it briefly, he couldn't help but feel that her words were directed to him in a way. The example she had given was suspiciously similar to that of his mother and fathers 'relationship'. He knew it was just a coincidence and that it would be impossible for her to know, but as he tried to keep his thoughts and feelings tamed in his head, he couldn't stop the way his face portrayed hate and anger on the girl.

He could feel his jaw clenching tightly as if it was instinct and his fists balled tightly under the table as he tried to get a grip of himself.

He didn't know how much longer he could take of her ranting before he did something to intervene - even if it made her shut up for a matter of seconds - her words rang in his head.

He mentally scolded her, he knew she was trouble. Although he respected her spontaneous ways of making the most of her 'free speech' - which she had happily bestowed upon the class, some things were better left un-said. Relief washed over him as he heard the Professor order her to leave the classroom, though she didn't seem too fazed by the detention she had earned on her first day of classes.

He knew that mouth of hers was going to land her in trouble - with school or with him - he didn't know yet.

For the remainder of the lesson he managed to complete the work, tuning out the noises and conversations around him as he planned his next move.

Always stay 5 steps ahead.

This was usually an easy thing to do, most people were quite predictable in that sense. He could read anyone and know exactly what their next move was be before the thought even entered their mind.

But as he sat in the Classroom surrounded by people and muffled noise, his mind was stuck and he was frustrated. He couldn't figure her out. It was like every detail making her - her - fogged over and disappeared once she was done with letting you view it. You only ever saw what she allowed you to and when she pleased.

Upon first glance she was an open book, easy to read, a simple, normal, teenage-girl with nothing interesting to decipher or pick apart. As you read more closely into the pages, the words start to blur and jumble until your left with nothing.

So many questions went un-answered. Too many went un-answered for Toms liking. He liked to know his opponents, pick up on possible weaknesses and learn how their brains worked.

Sure, Mulciber questioned her upon first meeting, though his way of going about it was questionable, it gave him a good idea of how she reacted under pressure. She seemed to get defensive as soon as she was asked something she was uncomfortable with or couldn't immediately give an answer to. She would re-direct the question to make it about the other person - until they'd forgotten what they had asked her in the first place.

Wether she did it consciously or not, manipulation seemed to come as easy to her as breathing. She was good at telling people what they wanted to hear, but also talented in a way that she could save her skin without a second thought.

Tom saw how her behaviour differentiated when questioned on her parents. Even her backstory seemed too perfect, as though it was rehearsed. The thoughts that irked him throughout that hour were giving him a headache. He needed fresh air to clear it all away and give him a new perspective on things.

Immediately after the lesson ended he headed outside, not having anywhere particular in mind - he followed where his legs lead him until he was stood at the entry way to the gardens.

Sweet scents of flowers and fruits imploded his senses, the soft breeze making his deep brown curls mess slightly, his usual neat hair now roughed by the wind.

As it was a nice day, he took his time as he made his way around the grounds. Although it wasn't obvious, there was a distinct trail that would lead you through the different parts of the gardens if you played close enough attention.

The maintenance of the gardens had always been up to a high standard. Ever since his first year, Tom would take walks there, the deafening silence of his room compared to the obnoxious loudness that seemed to come from everywhere in the castle - he found the gardens to be a decent middle ground.

Lighting a cigarette without much thought, he leant against the fountain that stood separating the small orchards on the left and the various rose bushes on his right.

The sounds of the rippling and falling water by his ear made him feel at peace, even if it only lasted a few minutes. He let the slight burn of the tobacco swirl in his lungs a little longer than normal, so that it would feel more satisfying when he finally let it blow through his slightly-parted lips.

Tom took in the scenery around him, everything was still but not in the sense that it was eerie. It was calm and content as it reflected the weather and the beaming sun above him.

He listened to the Robins whistle in the apple trees nearby, mixed with the soft rustling of the leaves and the faint laughter and conversations of students in the halls.

He almost missed it, but a small movement to his right quickly snapped him out of his trance, as he watched a figure with deep, brunette hair, like his own, stand and straighten out her uniform.

He regarded her as she bent down to her knees and began stuffing books and lose parchment into her bag, occasionally making the effort to brush away the hair that was incessantly falling to cover her face.

He could see her, but he knew she couldn't see him, thanks to the fountain separating them. It was able to give him a one way view of her as she started to walk back inside - in an attempt to what he assumed was making it to the great hall for lunch.

He wasn't hungry - he'd decided. Though he knew his group of boys would be and were no doubt on their merry ways there now.

Until he could decide the possible outcomes and risks of getting involved with her, the time he'd spent in the gardens gave him the chance to overlook mistakes and faults he had made when trying to approach her.

Maybe if she wasn't going to accept company being pushed on to her, she would react better to silent treatment. He wasn't an idiot and he'd instantly picked up on how she'd grown fond of the boys, especially Abraxas. If given no other choice but to instigate the relationships, it could possibly give him a better understanding on how she worked - he would be able to see wether she was worth his time - what she could possibly offer him.

He huffed in irritation as he stomped out his cigarette, then quite literally having to force himself inside in search of his group.

Asking Rosier to ignore his girlfriend would he pointless, even though he was loyal to Tom, he knew where his line stopped and when it was worth crossing. In this case it was a risk - especially since it was at the price of a girl who'd just happened to catch his attention.

Abraxas would undoubtedly be confused and unsure, which he didn't have the patience for, no matter how much he favoured the blonde over the others. Tom knew in the end that he wouldn't be a problem, he was easy enough to make see reason and always ended up following through with requests that were asked of him - no matter how insane they were.

<<<<<>>>>>

He caught them as they started to turn the corner on the last corridor. "Gentlemen." He said loud enough for them to hear but not to the point that any wondering ears would pick it up.

They all turned to face him, whatever smiles or expressions they had been carrying disappeared instantly and their faces all turned to stone. With his hands in his pockets he drew in a breathe before slightly gesturing his head towards the door of an empty classroom.

They all shared weary glances between them before filing in one after the other.

Meetings were not held during the day, ever. The last time one took place during school hours it was alarmingly important and they recalled the fear and dread that cut through them when they seen Tom Riddle in genuine distress for the first time.

That was quite a while ago however, everything had seemed to be smooth sailing up until now. So what this sudden discussion could be about was completely beyond any of them.

Once they were all in the room, they watched as he cast a silencing charm within seconds and took to leaning against a table with his arms crossed in front of them all. His face was with deep with concentration as he decided his next words thoroughly.

The silence was loud and uncomfortable, being completely oblivious to what his intentions were was something Abraxas would never wish on anyone. Being such a dangerous and cruel man, but also being so difficult to read was unsettling to even the strongest witches or wizards. Aside from his habit of being unpredictable, he was smart and always thought 10 steps ahead of everyone else - he always had a reason for everything.

Abraxas watched the look of anxiety posses the features of every boy in the room, they all waited silently for him to speak, not being able to bear his torturous suspense any longer.

"Why are we here?" Lestrange asked impatiently, Abraxas shut his eyes and mentally cursed the boy for lack of logic, it was as if he was asking to be cursed.

They all watched in agog as his eyes narrowed on Morpheuses figure and set his jaw firmly.

Of course, Lestrange immediately regretted his decision for speaking out of terms, it was quite obvious by the way his eyes dropped to the floor and he gulped as Tom slowly stalked towards him, only stopping until he towered over the boy.

More silence. Riddles gaze bore into the boy before him, silently challenging him to see if he would look up and meet his eyes.

Lestrange always was one of his weakest.

"Look at me." He said calmly, though his tone was deceiving.

He didn't lift his head for a few seconds, most likely saying silent prayers as he awaited the conversation he most definitely did not want to have. When their eyes finally met it was like he had taken a blade and slashed it down his spine, the chill was unbearably tormenting and the look of anger and disgust behind his eyes made him tremble.

"Since when have I ever made it your right to speak out of terms to me, Lestrange?" He said bitterly with an undertone of amusement at the reaction he was getting from the boy.

"You didn't, my Lord."

It was obvious he was straining his voice, trying not to appear weak at the confrontation, even though it was painfully obvious he was scared for his life.

"That's right. I didn't. So what made you think doing so would be acceptable?"

The tension was thick, as if all of the air in the room had seemed to disappear as the tense moment grew more and more unbearable.

"I don't know, my Lord."

The rest of the boys shared the look of defeat as they scolded their friend for giving such an idiotic answer to a man who would not hesitate to kill him. He definitely had a death wish.

Their pity for the boy was soon diminished when they heard the next sentence leave Riddles mouth in what seemed to be a bored tone - one of the most unsettling things they could've heard at that moment.

"You don't know." He repeated as he raised his eyebrows and spared a glance at his followers before taking a step back.

"Well, until you do know and can give me a valid answer, you'll just have to listen to what I have to say from the floor." He looked away unfazed as he moved his hand slightly, causing Lestrange to crash to the floor abruptly in screams as his body thrashed under the effects of the cruciatus curse.

He turned his attention back into the others, all of them trying their best to look unbothered by the sight of their friend being tortured mere inches away.

"I have gathered you all here as I need you to do something for me." He announced, taking in the confused reactions.

"Until I say otherwise, I don't want any of you to utter but a word or glance to Leila Fernsby, is that clear?"

Abraxas felt his heart drop, he had taken a liking to Leila. She was genuine and seemed to understand him and give him a chance, something he hadn't received in quite a long time. Her personality and ways of seeing the world was refreshing and he felt himself clinging on hopelessly to that breathe of fresh air.

Now that Tom had forbade him to do so, and the reasoning being unclear, he knew he would have no other option than to comply. He hoped that his mind would change throughout the week though, after all they did have plans for her birthday and had essays to they needed to work on together. Although the sudden request didn't make sense, he found himself nodding with the others like an idiot.

"Are you sure none of you want to speak out of terms like Lestrange did and ask me why? Because if so, now's your chance." He mocked as he spoke over the sounds of the boys screaming.

Of course, they all stayed quiet, holding their breathes subconsciously incase a sound they made was mistaken for an attempt to challenge him.

"Good to know some of you have brains, leave us." He ordered as he refocused his attention to Morpheus once again.

Without hesitating they all left without a glance over their shoulder to the mess Lestrange had gotten himself into.

Tom looked down at the whimpering mess and sighed. "I'm growing tired of you, Morpheus. This isn't the first time I've found myself cursing you for blatant disrespect that could've easily been avoided - if you'd have just kept your mouth shut." He chimed as he bent down to look at the weak excuse of a man in front of him. His forehead now dipping with sweat and his eyes bulged from repetitive screaming. The veins on his neck would re-appear every-so-often whenever a screech would tear through his windpipe, his back arching in in-humane ways as his body and veins burned with pain.

"M-mer-m-mercy, m-m-my-l-lord." He bit out as he tried not to pass out.

"This was 5 minutes. You speak out of terms to me again and I will triple it, do you understand?"

Although it was cut off by the thrashing of the curse, he managed a faint nod.

"Words, Lestrnage." He tutted dryly as if he had other places to be.

His jaw clenched as he tried to bite back another deafening scream, only making the pain of it scrape at the insides of his throat more brutally.

"Y-yes, My l-lord." He said as he faltered between consciousness.

No more words were spoken then, Riddle simply stood up and left without any care for the man he had left behind.

Once he was free from the room, he instantly made way for the bathroom he would smoke in with Abraxas. It was normally empty at this time and he knew Malfoy wouldn't have bothered going there alone.

He needed another cigarette.

Being as discreet as possible, he slipped into the Lavatory and lit one quickly, only a few seconds of silence before his ears picked up on sniffles and soft crying. He furrowed his brows at the strange noises until realisation hit him and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Making sure his footsteps were as mute as possible, he made his way over to the stalls, only stopping a few feet away to avoid any unwanted circumstances.

Although his steps were light, the bottom of his shoes clicked against the hard marble floors making a light screech, one he hoped went unnoticed.

"Who's there?" A frail female voice echoed through the room accusingly.

He remained still, hoping she would just shut up and leave so he could smoke in peace.

"Hornby if it's you leave me alone! Or I will tellProfessor Moroza!" He heard her whimper.

Hornby as in Olive? And why would she get the head of Ravenclaw involved?

"No, it's a prefect, I was told a girl ran in here upset and decided to check things out for myself. What's your name?" The lie was easy, though he didn't really care for her reasoning of why she was so distraught.

He listened closely as the lock on one of the stalls clicked and the door opened slightly. A few seconds later a girl walked into his view.

A third year Ravenclaw girl, who also happened to be Muggle-born.

"Myrtle Warren." She managed to choke through some tears, occasionally pushing her glasses up to stay put on her nose-bridge.

"What exactly are you weeping about, may I ask?" He really didn't care at all, and though there were good aspects of being a prefects that he would take advantage of, for example: he could use it as an excuse for almost anything, sneaking a round after hours and deducting house points whether he pleased. The downsides, he actually had to act like he cared for other students wellbeing's, even muggle-borns, much to his demise.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." She bit as she turned to retrieve back to her stall. He'd already had to put out the cigarette he'd lit before, he was fucking desperate for one and he didn't need the cries of a young girl irking him.

"Well obviously it does, turn around and look at me." He ordered and she complied, mostly out of fear.

"Clearly your bothered, so why spend your time in here crying like a little child when you should be reporting it to a Professor. Run along." His patience was wearing thin, he was considering actually forcing her out of the door himself if she ignored him one more time, but instead of challenging him she bowed her head and ran out of the doors.

He was left with silence and the smoke of another cigarette clouding his vision as he indulged in the peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey readers :) how we doing? I’m currently writing this story on wattpad, though in light of recent events and complications I came to the decision to move the story on here also. That being said, I’m completely new to this platform and it’s quite difficult to navigate but I’ll do my best. The story’s only beginning so stick around <3 lm x


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